diff --git a/LibreNMS/Config.php b/LibreNMS/Config.php
index e957363d85..6e5821a844 100644
--- a/LibreNMS/Config.php
+++ b/LibreNMS/Config.php
@@ -28,19 +28,44 @@ namespace LibreNMS;
 class Config
 {
     /**
-     * Load the user config from config.php
+     * Load the config, if the database connected, pull in database settings.
      *
-     * @param string $install_dir
-     * @return array
+     * return &array
      */
-    public static function &load($install_dir = null)
+    public static function &load()
     {
         global $config;
 
-        if (empty($install_dir)) {
-            $install_dir = __DIR__ . '/../';
+        self::loadFiles();
+
+        // Make sure the database is connected
+        if (dbIsConnected()) {
+            // pull in the database config settings
+            self::mergeDb();
+
+            // load graph types from the database
+            self::loadGraphsFromDb();
         }
-        $install_dir = realpath($install_dir);
+
+        // Process $config to tidy up
+        self::processConfig();
+
+        return $config;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Load the user config from config.php, defaults.inc.php and definitions.inc.php, etc.
+     * Erases existing config.
+     *
+     * @return array
+     */
+    private static function &loadFiles()
+    {
+        global $config;
+
+        $config = []; // start fresh
+
+        $install_dir = realpath(__DIR__ . '/../');
         $config['install_dir'] = $install_dir;
 
         // load defaults
@@ -60,34 +85,6 @@ class Config
         return $config;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Load Config from the database
-     *
-     * @throws Exceptions\DatabaseConnectException
-     */
-    public static function &loadFromDatabase()
-    {
-        global $config;
-
-        if (empty($config)) {
-            self::load();
-        }
-
-        // Make sure the database is connected
-        dbConnect();
-
-        // pull in the database config settings
-        self::mergeDb();
-
-        // load graph types from the database
-        self::loadGraphsFromDb();
-
-        // Process $config to tidy up
-        self::processConfig();
-
-        return $config;
-    }
-
 
     /**
      * Get a config value, if non existent null (or default if set) will be returned
@@ -428,4 +425,42 @@ class Config
             self::set($new, self::get($old));
         }
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Get just the database connection settings from config.php
+     *
+     * @return array (keys: db_host, db_port, db_name, db_user, db_pass, db_socket)
+     */
+    public static function getDatabaseSettings()
+    {
+        // Do not access global $config in this function!
+
+        $keys = $config = [
+            'db_host' => '',
+            'db_port' => '',
+            'db_name' => '',
+            'db_user' => '',
+            'db_pass' => '',
+            'db_socket' => '',
+        ];
+
+        if (is_file(__DIR__ . '/../config.php')) {
+            include __DIR__ . '/../config.php';
+        }
+
+        // Check for testing database
+        if (getenv('DBTEST')) {
+            if (isset($config['test_db_name'])) {
+                $config['db_name'] = $config['test_db_name'];
+            }
+            if (isset($config['test_db_user'])) {
+                $config['db_user'] = $config['test_db_user'];
+            }
+            if (isset($config['test_db_pass'])) {
+                $config['db_pass'] = $config['test_db_pass'];
+            }
+        }
+
+        return array_intersect_key($config, $keys); // return only the db settings
+    }
 }
diff --git a/LibreNMS/IRCBot.php b/LibreNMS/IRCBot.php
index cd33d773b0..40faaaa796 100644
--- a/LibreNMS/IRCBot.php
+++ b/LibreNMS/IRCBot.php
@@ -509,14 +509,7 @@ class IRCBot
     {
         if (!is_resource($this->sql)) {
             try {
-                $this->sql = dbConnect(
-                    $this->config['db_host'],
-                    $this->config['db_user'],
-                    $this->config['db_pass'],
-                    $this->config['db_name'],
-                    $this->config['db_port'],
-                    $this->config['db_socket']
-                );
+                $this->sql = dbConnect();
             } catch (DatabaseConnectException $e) {
                 $this->log('Cannot connect to MySQL: ' . $e->getMessage());
                 return die();
diff --git a/LibreNMS/Validations/Database.php b/LibreNMS/Validations/Database.php
index a8048fd48a..93ebda19fb 100644
--- a/LibreNMS/Validations/Database.php
+++ b/LibreNMS/Validations/Database.php
@@ -89,11 +89,13 @@ class Database extends BaseValidation
 
     private function checkCollation(Validator $validator)
     {
+        $db_name = dbFetchCell('SELECT DATABASE()');
+
         // Test for correct character set and collation
         $db_collation_sql = "SELECT DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET_NAME, DEFAULT_COLLATION_NAME 
             FROM information_schema.SCHEMATA S 
-            WHERE schema_name = '" . Config::get('db_name') .
-            "' AND  ( DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET_NAME != 'utf8' OR DEFAULT_COLLATION_NAME != 'utf8_unicode_ci')";
+            WHERE schema_name = '$db_name' AND 
+            ( DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET_NAME != 'utf8' OR DEFAULT_COLLATION_NAME != 'utf8_unicode_ci')";
         $collation = dbFetchRows($db_collation_sql);
         if (empty($collation) !== true) {
             $validator->fail(
@@ -104,8 +106,8 @@ class Database extends BaseValidation
 
         $table_collation_sql = "SELECT T.TABLE_NAME, C.CHARACTER_SET_NAME, C.COLLATION_NAME 
             FROM information_schema.TABLES AS T, information_schema.COLLATION_CHARACTER_SET_APPLICABILITY AS C 
-            WHERE C.collation_name = T.table_collation AND T.table_schema = '" . Config::get('db_name') .
-            "' AND  ( C.CHARACTER_SET_NAME != 'utf8' OR C.COLLATION_NAME != 'utf8_unicode_ci' );";
+            WHERE C.collation_name = T.table_collation AND T.table_schema = '$db_name' AND
+             ( C.CHARACTER_SET_NAME != 'utf8' OR C.COLLATION_NAME != 'utf8_unicode_ci' );";
         $collation_tables = dbFetchRows($table_collation_sql);
         if (empty($collation_tables) !== true) {
             $result = ValidationResult::fail('MySQL tables collation is wrong: ')
@@ -115,8 +117,8 @@ class Database extends BaseValidation
         }
 
         $column_collation_sql = "SELECT TABLE_NAME, COLUMN_NAME, CHARACTER_SET_NAME, COLLATION_NAME 
-FROM information_schema.COLUMNS  WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = '" . Config::get('db_name') .
-            "'  AND  ( CHARACTER_SET_NAME != 'utf8' OR COLLATION_NAME != 'utf8_unicode_ci' );";
+            FROM information_schema.COLUMNS  WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = '$db_name' AND
+            ( CHARACTER_SET_NAME != 'utf8' OR COLLATION_NAME != 'utf8_unicode_ci' );";
         $collation_columns = dbFetchRows($column_collation_sql);
         if (empty($collation_columns) !== true) {
             $result = ValidationResult::fail('MySQL column collation is wrong: ')
diff --git a/build-base.php b/build-base.php
index 8f5f3d66e5..7c38b0a3e1 100755
--- a/build-base.php
+++ b/build-base.php
@@ -24,32 +24,37 @@
  * @author     Tony Murray <murraytony@gmail.com>
  */
 
+use LibreNMS\Exceptions\DatabaseConnectException;
+
 if (!isset($init_modules)) {
+    $init_modules = array('nodb');
+    require __DIR__ . '/includes/init.php';
+
     $opts = getopt('ldh:u:p:n:t:s:');
 
-    $db_vars = array(
-        'db_host' => 'h',
-        'db_user' => 'u',
-        'db_pass' => 'p',
-        'db_name' => 'n',
-        'db_port' => 't',
-        'db_socket' => 's',
-    );
-
-    $config = array();
-    foreach ($db_vars as $setting => $opt) {
-        if (isset($opts[$opt])) {
-            $config[$setting] = $opts[$opt];
+    try {
+        if (isset($opts['h'])) {
+            dbConnect(
+                isset($opts['h']) ? $opts['h'] : null,
+                isset($opts['u']) ? $opts['u'] : '',
+                isset($opts['p']) ? $opts['p'] : '',
+                isset($opts['n']) ? $opts['n'] : '',
+                isset($opts['t']) ? $opts['t'] : null,
+                isset($opts['s']) ? $opts['s'] : null
+            );
+        } else {
+            // use configured database credentials
+            dbConnect();
         }
+    } catch (DatabaseConnectException $e) {
+        echo $e->getMessage() . PHP_EOL;
+        exit;
     }
 
-    $init_modules = array();
-    require __DIR__  . '/includes/init.php';
-
     $debug = isset($opts['d']);
     $skip_schema_lock = isset($opts['l']);
 }
 
-require 'includes/sql-schema/update.php';
+require __DIR__ . '/includes/sql-schema/update.php';
 
 exit($return);
diff --git a/html/index.php b/html/index.php
index e4059dea14..252da56450 100644
--- a/html/index.php
+++ b/html/index.php
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ $msg_box = array();
 // Check for install.inc.php
 if (!file_exists('../config.php') && $_SERVER['PATH_INFO'] != '/install.php') {
     // no config.php does so let's redirect to the install
-    header("Location: {$config['base_url']}/install.php");
+    header("Location: /install.php");
     exit;
 }
 
diff --git a/html/install.php b/html/install.php
index f923d42769..6a8cdc5e62 100644
--- a/html/install.php
+++ b/html/install.php
@@ -37,19 +37,12 @@ $dbuser = @$_POST['dbuser'] ?: 'librenms';
 $dbpass = @$_POST['dbpass'] ?: '';
 $dbname = @$_POST['dbname'] ?: 'librenms';
 $dbport = @$_POST['dbport'] ?: 3306;
-$dbsocket = @$_POST['dbsocket'] ?: '';
-$config['db_host']=$dbhost;
-$config['db_user']=$dbuser;
-$config['db_pass']=$dbpass;
-$config['db_name']=$dbname;
-$config['db_port']=$dbport;
-$config['db_socket']=$dbsocket;
-
-if (!empty($config['db_socket'])) {
-    $config['db_host'] = 'localhost';
-    $config['db_port'] = null;
+if (empty($_POST['dbsocket'])) {
+    $dbsocket = null;
 } else {
-    $config['db_socket'] = null;
+    $dbhost = 'localhost';
+    $dbsocket = $_POST['dbsocket'];
+    $dbport = null;
 }
 
 $add_user = @$_POST['add_user'] ?: '';
@@ -61,7 +54,7 @@ $add_email = @$_POST['add_email'] ?: '';
 if ($stage > 1) {
     try {
         if ($stage != 6) {
-            dbConnect();
+            dbConnect($dbhost, $dbuser, $dbpass, $dbname, $dbport, $dbsocket);
         }
         if ($stage == 2 && $_SESSION['build-ok'] == true) {
             $stage = 3;
diff --git a/includes/dbFacile.php b/includes/dbFacile.php
index 37ac6a7a20..78c6168011 100644
--- a/includes/dbFacile.php
+++ b/includes/dbFacile.php
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
  * 3. Oh, and dbFetchAll() is now dbFetchRows()
  */
 
+use LibreNMS\Config;
 use LibreNMS\Exceptions\DatabaseConnectException;
 
 function dbIsConnected()
@@ -33,18 +34,18 @@ function dbIsConnected()
  * Connect to the database.
  * Will use global $config variables if they are not sent: db_host, db_user, db_pass, db_name, db_port, db_socket
  *
- * @param string $host
- * @param string $user
- * @param string $password
- * @param string $database
- * @param string $port
- * @param string $socket
+ * @param string $db_host
+ * @param string $db_user
+ * @param string $db_pass
+ * @param string $db_name
+ * @param string $db_port
+ * @param string $db_socket
  * @return mysqli
  * @throws DatabaseConnectException
  */
-function dbConnect($host = null, $user = '', $password = '', $database = '', $port = null, $socket = null)
+function dbConnect($db_host = null, $db_user = '', $db_pass = '', $db_name = '', $db_port = null, $db_socket = null)
 {
-    global $config, $database_link;
+    global $database_link;
 
     if (dbIsConnected()) {
         return $database_link;
@@ -54,32 +55,43 @@ function dbConnect($host = null, $user = '', $password = '', $database = '', $po
         throw new DatabaseConnectException("mysqli extension not loaded!");
     }
 
-    $host = empty($host) ? $config['db_host'] : $host;
-    $user = empty($user) ? $config['db_user'] : $user;
-    $password = empty($password) ? $config['db_pass'] : $password;
-    $database = empty($database) ? $config['db_name'] : $database;
-    $port = empty($port) ? $config['db_port'] : $port;
-    $socket = empty($socket) ? $config['db_socket'] : $socket;
+    if (is_null($db_host)) {
+        $db_config = Config::getDatabaseSettings();
+        extract($db_config);
+        /** @var string $db_host */
+        /** @var string $db_port */
+        /** @var string $db_socket */
+        /** @var string $db_name */
+        /** @var string $db_user */
+        /** @var string $db_pass */
+    }
 
-    $database_link = mysqli_connect('p:' . $host, $user, $password, null, $port, $socket);
+    if (empty($db_socket)) {
+        $db_socket = null;
+    }
+    if (!is_numeric($db_port)) {
+        $db_port = null;
+    }
+
+    $database_link = mysqli_connect('p:' . $db_host, $db_user, $db_pass, null, $db_port, $db_socket);
     mysqli_options($database_link, MYSQLI_OPT_LOCAL_INFILE, false);
     if ($database_link === false) {
         $error = mysqli_connect_error();
         if ($error == 'No such file or directory') {
-            $error = 'Could not connect to ' . $host;
+            $error = 'Could not connect to ' . $db_host;
         }
         throw new DatabaseConnectException($error);
     }
 
-    $database_db = mysqli_select_db($database_link, $config['db_name']);
+    $database_db = mysqli_select_db($database_link, $db_name);
     if (!$database_db) {
-        $db_create_sql = "CREATE DATABASE " . $config['db_name'] . " CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci";
+        $db_create_sql = "CREATE DATABASE $db_name CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci";
         mysqli_query($database_link, $db_create_sql);
-        $database_db = mysqli_select_db($database_link, $database);
+        $database_db = mysqli_select_db($database_link, $db_name);
     }
 
     if (!$database_db) {
-        throw new DatabaseConnectException("Could not select database: $database. " . mysqli_error($database_link));
+        throw new DatabaseConnectException("Could not select database: $db_name. " . mysqli_error($database_link));
     }
 
     dbQuery("SET NAMES 'utf8'");
diff --git a/includes/functions.php b/includes/functions.php
index 66dc594577..86161986f1 100644
--- a/includes/functions.php
+++ b/includes/functions.php
@@ -424,8 +424,10 @@ function delete_device($id)
         dbDelete('sensors_to_state_indexes', "`sensor_id` = ?", array($sensor_id));
     }
     $fields = array('device_id','host');
+
+    $db_name = dbFetchCell('SELECT DATABASE()');
     foreach ($fields as $field) {
-        foreach (dbFetch("SELECT table_name FROM information_schema.columns WHERE table_schema = ? AND column_name = ?", array($config['db_name'],$field)) as $table) {
+        foreach (dbFetch("SELECT table_name FROM information_schema.columns WHERE table_schema = ? AND column_name = ?", [$db_name, $field]) as $table) {
             $table = $table['table_name'];
             $entries = (int) dbDelete($table, "`$field` =  ?", array($id));
             if ($entries > 0 && $debug === true) {
@@ -2294,10 +2296,11 @@ function dump_db_schema()
     global $config;
 
     $output = array();
+    $db_name = dbFetchCell('SELECT DATABASE()');
 
-    foreach (dbFetchRows("SELECT TABLE_NAME FROM information_schema.TABLES WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = '{$config['db_name']}' ORDER BY TABLE_NAME;") as $table) {
+    foreach (dbFetchRows("SELECT TABLE_NAME FROM information_schema.TABLES WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = '$db_name' ORDER BY TABLE_NAME;") as $table) {
         $table = $table['TABLE_NAME'];
-        foreach (dbFetchRows("SELECT COLUMN_NAME, COLUMN_TYPE, IS_NULLABLE, COLUMN_DEFAULT, EXTRA FROM information_schema.COLUMNS WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = '{$config['db_name']}' AND TABLE_NAME='$table'") as $data) {
+        foreach (dbFetchRows("SELECT COLUMN_NAME, COLUMN_TYPE, IS_NULLABLE, COLUMN_DEFAULT, EXTRA FROM information_schema.COLUMNS WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = '$db_name' AND TABLE_NAME='$table'") as $data) {
             $def = array(
                 'Field'   => $data['COLUMN_NAME'],
                 'Type'    => $data['COLUMN_TYPE'],
diff --git a/includes/init.php b/includes/init.php
index ffd886fa6d..754f77e812 100644
--- a/includes/init.php
+++ b/includes/init.php
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ global $config;
 error_reporting(E_ERROR|E_PARSE|E_CORE_ERROR|E_COMPILE_ERROR);
 
 $install_dir = realpath(__DIR__ . '/..');
-$config['install_dir'] = $install_dir;
 chdir($install_dir);
 
 require_once $install_dir . '/includes/common.php';
@@ -93,29 +92,11 @@ if (module_selected('alerts', $init_modules)) {
 // Display config.php errors instead of http 500
 $display_bak = ini_get('display_errors');
 ini_set('display_errors', 1);
-Config::load($install_dir);
-// set display_errors back
-ini_set('display_errors', $display_bak);
 
 if (!module_selected('nodb', $init_modules)) {
-    // Check for testing database
-    if (getenv('DBTEST')) {
-        if (isset($config['test_db_name'])) {
-            $config['db_name'] = $config['test_db_name'];
-        }
-        if (isset($config['test_db_user'])) {
-            $config['db_user'] = $config['test_db_user'];
-        }
-        if (isset($config['test_db_pass'])) {
-            $config['db_pass'] = $config['test_db_pass'];
-        }
-    }
-
     // Connect to database
     try {
         dbConnect();
-
-        Config::loadFromDatabase();
     } catch (\LibreNMS\Exceptions\DatabaseConnectException $e) {
         if (isCli()) {
             echo 'MySQL Error: ' . $e->getMessage() . PHP_EOL;
@@ -126,6 +107,13 @@ if (!module_selected('nodb', $init_modules)) {
     }
 }
 
+// try to load from database, otherwise, just process config
+Config::load();
+
+// set display_errors back
+ini_set('display_errors', $display_bak);
+
+
 if (isset($config['php_memory_limit']) && is_numeric($config['php_memory_limit']) && $config['php_memory_limit'] > 128) {
     ini_set('memory_limit', $config['php_memory_limit'].'M');
 }
diff --git a/includes/sql-schema/update.php b/includes/sql-schema/update.php
index 8897a60863..f006bf336b 100644
--- a/includes/sql-schema/update.php
+++ b/includes/sql-schema/update.php
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
  */
 
 use LibreNMS\Config;
+use LibreNMS\Exceptions\DatabaseConnectException;
 use LibreNMS\Exceptions\LockException;
 use LibreNMS\Util\FileLock;
 use LibreNMS\Util\MemcacheLock;
@@ -21,8 +22,14 @@ global $database_link;
 
 if (!isset($init_modules) && php_sapi_name() == 'cli') {
     // Not called from within discovery, let's load up the necessary stuff.
-    $init_modules = array();
+    $init_modules = array('nodb');
     require realpath(__DIR__ . '/../..') . '/includes/init.php';
+    try {
+        dbConnect();
+    } catch (DatabaseConnectException $e) {
+        echo $e->getMessage() . PHP_EOL;
+        exit;
+    }
 }
 
 $return = 0;
@@ -37,7 +44,8 @@ try {
     }
 
     // only import build.sql to an empty database
-    $tables = dbFetchRows("SHOW TABLES FROM " . Config::get('db_name'));
+    $tables = dbFetchRows("SHOW TABLES");
+
     if (empty($tables)) {
         echo "-- Creating base database structure\n";
         $step = 0;
@@ -70,7 +78,7 @@ try {
         d_echo("DB Schema already up to date.\n");
     } else {
         // Set Database Character set and Collation
-        dbQuery('ALTER DATABASE ? CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;', array(array(Config::get('db_name'))));
+        dbQuery('ALTER DATABASE CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;');
 
         $db_rev = get_db_schema();
         $insert = ($db_rev == 0); // if $db_rev == 0, insert the first update
diff --git a/scripts/build-schema.php b/scripts/build-schema.php
index 451bf37a12..601d4aad20 100755
--- a/scripts/build-schema.php
+++ b/scripts/build-schema.php
@@ -3,30 +3,8 @@
 
 $install_dir = realpath(__DIR__ . '/..');
 
-if (getenv('DBTEST')) {
-    if (!is_file($install_dir . '/config.php')) {
-        exec("cp $install_dir/tests/config/config.test.php $install_dir/config.php");
-        $create_db = true;
-    }
-}
-
-$init_modules = array();
-require realpath(__DIR__ . '/..') . '/includes/init.php';
-
-if (getenv('DBTEST')) {
-    if ($create_db === true) {
-        $sql_mode = dbFetchCell("SELECT @@global.sql_mode as sql_mode");
-        dbQuery("SET NAMES 'utf8'");
-        dbQuery("SET CHARACTER SET 'utf8'");
-        dbQuery("SET COLLATION_CONNECTION = 'utf8_unicode_ci'");
-        dbQuery("SET GLOBAL sql_mode='ONLY_FULL_GROUP_BY,NO_ZERO_IN_DATE,NO_ZERO_DATE,ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO,NO_AUTO_CREATE_USER,NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION'");
-        dbQuery("USE " . $config['db_name']);
-        $build_base = $config['install_dir'] . '/build-base.php';
-        exec($build_base, $schema);
-    }
-
-    sleep(60);//Sleep for 60 seconds to ensure db work has completed
-}
+// update.php will call init.php
+require $install_dir . '/includes/sql-schema/update.php';
 
 $file = $install_dir . '/misc/db_schema.yaml';
 $yaml = Symfony\Component\Yaml\Yaml::dump(dump_db_schema(), 3, 2);
diff --git a/tests/DBSetupTest.php b/tests/DBSetupTest.php
index fed6c2f249..dd1d05ceb7 100644
--- a/tests/DBSetupTest.php
+++ b/tests/DBSetupTest.php
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ class DBSetupTest extends DBTestCase
     {
         global $config;
 
-        $collation = dbFetchRows("SELECT DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET_NAME, DEFAULT_COLLATION_NAME FROM information_schema.SCHEMATA S WHERE schema_name = '" . $config['db_name'] . "' AND  ( DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET_NAME != 'utf8' OR DEFAULT_COLLATION_NAME != 'utf8_unicode_ci')");
+        $collation = dbFetchRows("SELECT DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET_NAME, DEFAULT_COLLATION_NAME FROM information_schema.SCHEMATA S WHERE schema_name = '$this->db_name' AND  ( DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET_NAME != 'utf8' OR DEFAULT_COLLATION_NAME != 'utf8_unicode_ci')");
         if (isset($collation[0])) {
             $error = implode(' ', $collation[0]);
         } else {
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ class DBSetupTest extends DBTestCase
     {
         global $config;
 
-        $collation = dbFetchRows("SELECT T.TABLE_NAME, C.CHARACTER_SET_NAME, C.COLLATION_NAME FROM information_schema.TABLES AS T, information_schema.COLLATION_CHARACTER_SET_APPLICABILITY AS C WHERE C.collation_name = T.table_collation AND T.table_schema = '" . $config['db_name'] . "' AND  ( C.CHARACTER_SET_NAME != 'utf8' OR C.COLLATION_NAME != 'utf8_unicode_ci' );");
+        $collation = dbFetchRows("SELECT T.TABLE_NAME, C.CHARACTER_SET_NAME, C.COLLATION_NAME FROM information_schema.TABLES AS T, information_schema.COLLATION_CHARACTER_SET_APPLICABILITY AS C WHERE C.collation_name = T.table_collation AND T.table_schema = '$this->db_name' AND  ( C.CHARACTER_SET_NAME != 'utf8' OR C.COLLATION_NAME != 'utf8_unicode_ci' );");
         $error = '';
         foreach ($collation as $id => $data) {
             $error .= implode(' ', $data) . PHP_EOL;
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ class DBSetupTest extends DBTestCase
     {
         global $config;
 
-        $collation = dbFetchRows("SELECT TABLE_NAME, COLUMN_NAME, CHARACTER_SET_NAME, COLLATION_NAME FROM information_schema.COLUMNS  WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = '" . $config['db_name'] . "'  AND  ( CHARACTER_SET_NAME != 'utf8' OR COLLATION_NAME != 'utf8_unicode_ci' );");
+        $collation = dbFetchRows("SELECT TABLE_NAME, COLUMN_NAME, CHARACTER_SET_NAME, COLLATION_NAME FROM information_schema.COLUMNS  WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = '$this->db_name'  AND  ( CHARACTER_SET_NAME != 'utf8' OR COLLATION_NAME != 'utf8_unicode_ci' );");
         $error = '';
         foreach ($collation as $id => $data) {
             $error .= implode(' ', $data) . PHP_EOL;
diff --git a/tests/DBTestCase.php b/tests/DBTestCase.php
index 69eeb9e39f..5c7e717f0b 100644
--- a/tests/DBTestCase.php
+++ b/tests/DBTestCase.php
@@ -27,10 +27,13 @@ namespace LibreNMS\Tests;
 
 class DBTestCase extends TestCase
 {
+    protected $db_name;
+
     public function setUp()
     {
         parent::setUp();
         $this->dbSetUp();
+        $this->db_name = dbFetchCell('SELECT DATABASE()');
     }
 
     public function tearDown()
diff --git a/tests/bootstrap.php b/tests/bootstrap.php
index 6fc1ff7c3e..0de96a3c80 100644
--- a/tests/bootstrap.php
+++ b/tests/bootstrap.php
@@ -23,13 +23,15 @@
  * @author     Tony Murray <murraytony@gmail.com>
  */
 
+use LibreNMS\Config;
+use LibreNMS\Exceptions\DatabaseConnectException;
 use LibreNMS\Util\Snmpsim;
 
 global $config;
 
 $install_dir = realpath(__DIR__ . '/..');
 
-$init_modules = array('web', 'discovery', 'polling');
+$init_modules = array('web', 'discovery', 'polling', 'nodb');
 
 if (!getenv('SNMPSIM')) {
     $init_modules[] = 'mocksnmp';
@@ -39,8 +41,6 @@ if (getenv('DBTEST')) {
     if (!is_file($install_dir . '/config.php')) {
         exec("cp $install_dir/tests/config/config.test.php $install_dir/config.php");
     }
-} else {
-    $init_modules[] = 'nodb';
 }
 
 require $install_dir . '/includes/init.php';
@@ -64,13 +64,22 @@ if (getenv('SNMPSIM')) {
 if (getenv('DBTEST')) {
     global $schema, $sql_mode;
 
+    try {
+        dbConnect();
+    } catch (DatabaseConnectException $e) {
+        echo $e->getMessage() . PHP_EOL;
+    }
+
     $sql_mode = dbFetchCell("SELECT @@global.sql_mode");
-    $empty_db = (dbFetchCell("SELECT count(*) FROM `information_schema`.`tables` WHERE `table_type` = 'BASE TABLE' AND `table_schema` = ?", array($config['db_name'])) == 0);
+    $db_name = dbFetchCell("SELECT DATABASE()");
+    $empty_db = (dbFetchCell("SELECT count(*) FROM `information_schema`.`tables` WHERE `table_type` = 'BASE TABLE' AND `table_schema` = ?", [$db_name]) == 0);
     dbQuery("SET GLOBAL sql_mode='ONLY_FULL_GROUP_BY,STRICT_TRANS_TABLES,NO_ZERO_IN_DATE,NO_ZERO_DATE,ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO,NO_AUTO_CREATE_USER,NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION'");
 
     $cmd = $config['install_dir'] . '/build-base.php';
     exec($cmd, $schema);
 
+    Config::load(); // reload the config including database config
+
     register_shutdown_function(function () use ($empty_db, $sql_mode) {
         global $config;
         dbConnect();
@@ -80,9 +89,10 @@ if (getenv('DBTEST')) {
         // restore sql_mode
         dbQuery("SET GLOBAL sql_mode='$sql_mode'");
 
+        $db_name = dbFetchCell('SELECT DATABASE()');
         if ($empty_db) {
-            dbQuery("DROP DATABASE " . $config['db_name']);
-        } elseif (isset($config['test_db_name']) && $config['db_name'] == $config['test_db_name']) {
+            dbQuery("DROP DATABASE $db_name");
+        } elseif (isset($config['test_db_name']) && $config['test_db_name'] == $db_name) {
             // truncate tables
             $tables = dbFetchColumn('SHOW TABLES');
 
diff --git a/validate.php b/validate.php
index d5736f5172..4118bc804c 100755
--- a/validate.php
+++ b/validate.php
@@ -141,14 +141,13 @@ if (!file_exists(Config::get('install_dir').'/config.php')) {
 try {
     dbConnect();
 
-    // pull in the database config settings
-    Config::loadFromDatabase();
-
     $validator->ok('Database connection successful', null, 'database');
 } catch (\LibreNMS\Exceptions\DatabaseConnectException $e) {
     $validator->fail('Error connecting to your database. '.$e->getMessage(), null, 'database');
 }
 
+Config::load();
+
 $precheck_complete = true; // disable shutdown function
 print_header($validator->getVersions());