diff --git a/src/AppBundle/Eloquent.php b/src/AppBundle/Eloquent.php
index 481a915c8..d3865cde0 100755
--- a/src/AppBundle/Eloquent.php
+++ b/src/AppBundle/Eloquent.php
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ class Eloquent {
 	private $capsule_ = null;
 
 	public function __construct($dbParams, $mimeTypes, $paths, $cache) {
+		// TODO: find better way to pass around test db config
+		if (isset($_SERVER['JOPLIN_TESTING']) && $_SERVER['JOPLIN_TESTING']) {
+			$dbParams = $_SERVER['JOPLIN_TESTING_DB_CONFIG'];
+		}
+
 		$this->capsule_ = new \Illuminate\Database\Capsule\Manager();
 
 		$dbParamsDefaults = array(
diff --git a/tests/BaseControllerTestCase.php b/tests/BaseControllerTestCase.php
index 2db8af968..24cf4b2fe 100644
--- a/tests/BaseControllerTestCase.php
+++ b/tests/BaseControllerTestCase.php
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ class BaseControllerTestCase extends WebTestCase {
 			} else {
 				$client->request($method, $path);
 			}
-		} catch (Exception $e) {
+		} catch (\Exception $e) {
 			if (method_exists($e, 'toErrorArray')) return $e->toErrorArray();
 			return array(
 			 	'error' => $e->getMessage(),
diff --git a/tests/setup.php b/tests/setup.php
index 84ca33af4..31aa4c75d 100755
--- a/tests/setup.php
+++ b/tests/setup.php
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 <?php
 
+$_SERVER['JOPLIN_TESTING'] = true;
 
 require_once dirname(__FILE__) . '/BaseTestCase.php';
 require_once dirname(__FILE__) . '/BaseControllerTestCase.php';
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ exec($cmd);
 
 $capsule = new \Illuminate\Database\Capsule\Manager();
 
-$capsule->addConnection([
+$capsuleConfig = [
 	'driver'    => 'mysql',
 	'host'      => $dbConfig['host'],
 	'database'  => $dbConfig['dbName'],
@@ -30,6 +31,10 @@ $capsule->addConnection([
 	'charset'   => 'utf8',
 	'collation' => 'utf8_unicode_ci',
 	'prefix'    => '',
-]);
+];
 
-$capsule->bootEloquent();
+$capsule->addConnection($capsuleConfig);
+
+$_SERVER['JOPLIN_TESTING_DB_CONFIG'] = $capsuleConfig;
+
+$capsule->bootEloquent();
\ No newline at end of file