diff --git a/backend/app.py b/backend/app.py
index 7511e4e..0a86157 100644
--- a/backend/app.py
+++ b/backend/app.py
@@ -229,6 +229,7 @@ def admin():
 
 @app.before_first_request
 def activate_job():
+    helpers.load_dbconfig(app)
     helpers.load_version(app)
     helpers.create_data_directory()
     database.create_entry_table()
diff --git a/backend/database.py b/backend/database.py
index c7bdc48..7ba70c7 100644
--- a/backend/database.py
+++ b/backend/database.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ from sqlalchemy import create_engine, engine
 import mariadb
 import pandas
 from io import StringIO
+from flask import current_app
 
 song_table = "songs"
 entry_table = "entries"
@@ -18,8 +19,7 @@ connection = None
 def open_db() -> engine.base.Connection:
     global connection
     if (not connection):
-        engine = create_engine(
-            "mysql://ek0ur6p6ky9gdmif:jk571ov6g38g5iqv@eporqep6b4b8ql12.chr7pe7iynqr.eu-west-1.rds.amazonaws.com:3306/xdfmpudc3remzgj0")
+        engine = create_engine(current_app.config.get("DBCONNSTRING"))
         connection = engine.connect()
     # cur.execute('PRAGMA encoding = "UTF-8";')
     return connection
diff --git a/backend/helpers.py b/backend/helpers.py
index 17545a6..c937f04 100644
--- a/backend/helpers.py
+++ b/backend/helpers.py
@@ -47,6 +47,19 @@ def load_version(app):
                 app.config['VERSION'] = ""
     else:
         app.config['VERSION'] = ""
+        
+def load_dbconfig(app):
+    if os.environ.get("JAWSDB_MARIA_URL"):
+        app.config['VERSION'] = os.environ.get("JAWSDB_MARIA_URL")
+    elif os.path.isfile(".dbconn"):
+        with open('.dbconn', 'r') as file:
+            data = file.read().replace('\n', '')
+            if data:
+                app.config['DBCONNSTRING'] = data
+            else:
+                app.config['DBCONNSTRING'] = ""
+    else:
+        app.config['DBCONNSTRING'] = ""
 
 def setup_config(app):
     if check_config_exists():