diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/database/config.test.ts b/packages/backend-common/src/database/config.test.ts
index acda0e47d8..ab29bc19ba 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/database/config.test.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-common/src/database/config.test.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,21 @@ import { mergeDatabaseConfig } from './config';
 
 describe('config', () => {
   describe(mergeDatabaseConfig, () => {
-    it('does not modify the config', () => {
+    it('does not require overrides', () => {
+      expect(
+        mergeDatabaseConfig({
+          client: 'pg',
+          connection: '',
+          useNullAsDefault: true,
+        }),
+      ).toEqual({
+        client: 'pg',
+        connection: '',
+        useNullAsDefault: true,
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('accepts an empty object', () => {
       expect(
         mergeDatabaseConfig(
           {
@@ -71,7 +85,7 @@ describe('config', () => {
       });
     });
 
-    it('merges string config objects', () => {
+    it('replaces a string connection', () => {
       expect(
         mergeDatabaseConfig(
           {
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/database/connection.ts b/packages/backend-common/src/database/connection.ts
index bbb1752737..fcff459d1e 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/database/connection.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-common/src/database/connection.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,10 @@ type DatabaseClient = 'pg' | 'sqlite3' | string;
  * @param config The database config
  * @param overrides Additional options to merge with the config
  */
-export function createDatabase(config: ConfigReader, overrides?: knex.Config) {
+export function createDatabase(
+  config: ConfigReader,
+  overrides?: Partial<knex.Config>,
+) {
   const client: DatabaseClient = config.getString('client');
 
   if (client === 'pg') {
diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/database/index.ts b/packages/backend-common/src/database/index.ts
index 641adc565c..38d3d6224b 100644
--- a/packages/backend-common/src/database/index.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-common/src/database/index.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,4 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-export * from './config';
 export * from './connection';
-export * from './postgres';
-export * from './sqlite3';