diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 14da15bfab57..d05e37d0c8a7 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ jobs:
           no_output_timeout: 30m
           command: |
             export PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1
-            pipenv run python -u runtests.py --parallel
+            DATABASE_NAME=wagtail.db pipenv run python -u runtests.py --parallel
 
   frontend:
     docker: