diff --git a/surfsense_backend/tests/conftest.py b/surfsense_backend/tests/conftest.py
index 19349affb..e1f0bc178 100644
--- a/surfsense_backend/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/surfsense_backend/tests/conftest.py
@@ -4,10 +4,14 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 import os
 
-os.environ.setdefault(
-    "DATABASE_URL",
-    "postgresql+asyncpg://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/surfsense_test",
+_DEFAULT_TEST_DB = (
+    "postgresql+asyncpg://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/surfsense_test"
 )
+TEST_DATABASE_URL = os.environ.get("TEST_DATABASE_URL", _DEFAULT_TEST_DB)
+
+# Force the app to use the test database regardless of any pre-existing
+# DATABASE_URL in the environment (e.g. from .env or shell profile).
+os.environ["DATABASE_URL"] = TEST_DATABASE_URL
 
 import pytest
 
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/tests/integration/conftest.py b/surfsense_backend/tests/integration/conftest.py
index 9dff257df..8b92a5aa8 100644
--- a/surfsense_backend/tests/integration/conftest.py
+++ b/surfsense_backend/tests/integration/conftest.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import os
 import uuid
 from unittest.mock import AsyncMock, MagicMock
 
@@ -18,14 +17,10 @@ from app.db import (
     User,
 )
 from app.indexing_pipeline.connector_document import ConnectorDocument
+from tests.conftest import TEST_DATABASE_URL
 
 _EMBEDDING_DIM = app_config.embedding_model_instance.dimension
 
-_DEFAULT_TEST_DB = (
-    "postgresql+asyncpg://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/surfsense_test"
-)
-TEST_DATABASE_URL = os.environ.get("TEST_DATABASE_URL", _DEFAULT_TEST_DB)
-
 
 @pytest_asyncio.fixture(scope="session")
 async def async_engine():