diff --git a/swh/lister/core/models.py b/swh/lister/core/models.py
index 610e176..ce996b1 100644
--- a/swh/lister/core/models.py
+++ b/swh/lister/core/models.py
@@ -1,71 +1,72 @@
 # Copyright (C) 2015-2017 the Software Heritage developers
 # License: GNU General Public License version 3, or any later version
 # See top-level LICENSE file for more information
 
 import abc
 from datetime import datetime
 import logging
 
 from sqlalchemy import Column, DateTime, Integer, String
-from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base, DeclarativeMeta
+from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import DeclarativeMeta
 
 from .abstractattribute import AbstractAttribute
 
-logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+from swh.storage.schemata.distribution import SQLBase
+
 
-SQLBase = declarative_base()
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 class ABCSQLMeta(abc.ABCMeta, DeclarativeMeta):
     pass
 
 
 class ModelBase(SQLBase, metaclass=ABCSQLMeta):
     """a common repository"""
     __abstract__ = True
     __tablename__ = AbstractAttribute
 
     uid = AbstractAttribute('Column(<uid_type>, primary_key=True)')
 
     name = Column(String, index=True)
     full_name = Column(String, index=True)
     html_url = Column(String)
     origin_url = Column(String)
     origin_type = Column(String)
 
     last_seen = Column(DateTime, nullable=False)
 
     task_id = Column(Integer)
 
     def __init__(self, **kw):
         kw['last_seen'] = datetime.now()
         super().__init__(**kw)
 
 
 class IndexingModelBase(ModelBase, metaclass=ABCSQLMeta):
     __abstract__ = True
     __tablename__ = AbstractAttribute
 
     # The value used for sorting, segmenting, or api query paging,
     # because uids aren't always sequential.
     indexable = AbstractAttribute('Column(<indexable_type>, index=True)')
 
 
 def initialize(db_engine, drop_tables=False, **kwargs):
     """Default database initialization function for a lister.
 
     Typically called from the lister's initialization hook.
 
     Args:
         models (list): list of SQLAlchemy tables/models to drop/create.
         db_enfine (): the SQLAlchemy DB engine.
         drop_tables (bool): if True, tables will be dropped before
             (re)creating them.
     """
 
     if drop_tables:
         logger.info('Dropping tables')
         SQLBase.metadata.drop_all(db_engine, checkfirst=True)
 
     logger.info('Creating tables')
     SQLBase.metadata.create_all(db_engine, checkfirst=True)