diff --git a/packages/db/src/consts.ts b/packages/db/src/consts.ts
index db0f2f6725..ace2d6c389 100644
--- a/packages/db/src/consts.ts
+++ b/packages/db/src/consts.ts
@@ -12,3 +12,8 @@ export const SUPPORTED_SEED_FILES = ['db.seed.js', 'db.seed.mjs', 'db.seed.mts',
 export const DB_TYPES_FILE = 'db-types.d.ts';
 
 export const VIRTUAL_MODULE_ID = 'astro:db';
+
+// TODO: copy DB to build for serverless
+export function getDbUrl(root: URL) {
+	return new URL('.astro/content.db', root);
+}
diff --git a/packages/db/src/integration.ts b/packages/db/src/integration.ts
index f17cee9ead..eeaacc82f9 100644
--- a/packages/db/src/integration.ts
+++ b/packages/db/src/integration.ts
@@ -4,17 +4,26 @@ import { vitePluginInjectEnvTs } from './vite-plugin-inject-env-ts.js';
 import { typegen } from './typegen.js';
 import { collectionsSchema } from './types.js';
 import { seed } from './seed.js';
+import { existsSync } from 'fs';
+import { rm } from 'fs/promises';
+import { getDbUrl } from './consts.js';
 
 export function integration(): AstroIntegration {
 	return {
 		name: 'astro:db',
 		hooks: {
 			async 'astro:config:setup'({ updateConfig, config, command }) {
+				if (command === 'preview') return;
+
 				// TODO: refine where we load collections
 				// @matthewp: may want to load collections by path at runtime
 				const collections = collectionsSchema.parse(config.db?.collections ?? {});
 				const isDev = command === 'dev';
-				if (!isDev) {
+				if (command === 'build') {
+					const dbUrl = getDbUrl(config.root);
+					if (existsSync(dbUrl)) {
+						await rm(dbUrl);
+					}
 					await seed({ collections, root: config.root });
 				}
 				updateConfig({
diff --git a/packages/db/src/internal.ts b/packages/db/src/internal.ts
index 5d1dcebae9..654847e7e9 100644
--- a/packages/db/src/internal.ts
+++ b/packages/db/src/internal.ts
@@ -38,11 +38,21 @@ export type {
 
 const sqlite = new SQLiteAsyncDialect();
 
-export async function createDb(collections: DBCollections) {
-	const client = createClient({ url: ':memory:' });
+export async function createDb({
+	collections,
+	dbUrl,
+	createTables = false,
+}: {
+	collections: DBCollections;
+	dbUrl: string;
+	createTables?: boolean;
+}) {
+	const client = createClient({ url: dbUrl });
 	const db = drizzle(client);
 
-	await createDbTables(db, collections);
+	if (createTables) {
+		await createDbTables(db, collections);
+	}
 	return db;
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/db/src/vite-plugin-db.ts b/packages/db/src/vite-plugin-db.ts
index 348fd188e9..e251701478 100644
--- a/packages/db/src/vite-plugin-db.ts
+++ b/packages/db/src/vite-plugin-db.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
 	INTERNAL_MOD_IMPORT,
 	SUPPORTED_SEED_FILES,
 	VIRTUAL_MODULE_ID,
+	getDbUrl,
 } from './consts.js';
 import type { DBCollections } from './types.js';
 import type { Plugin as VitePlugin } from 'vite';
@@ -15,7 +16,7 @@ const resolvedVirtualModuleId = '\0' + VIRTUAL_MODULE_ID;
 export function vitePluginDb({
 	collections,
 	root,
-	isDev: isDev,
+	isDev,
 }: {
 	collections: DBCollections;
 	root: URL;
@@ -52,10 +53,16 @@ export function getVirtualModContents({
 	const seedFile = SUPPORTED_SEED_FILES.map((f) => fileURLToPath(new URL(f, root))).find((f) =>
 		existsSync(f)
 	);
+	const dbUrl = isDev ? ':memory:' : getDbUrl(root).href;
+	const shouldSetUpDb = isDev || !existsSync(getDbUrl(root));
 	return `
 import { collectionToTable, createDb } from ${INTERNAL_MOD_IMPORT};
 
-export const db = await createDb(${JSON.stringify(collections)});
+export const db = await createDb(${JSON.stringify({
+		collections,
+		dbUrl,
+		createTables: shouldSetUpDb,
+	})});
 export * from ${DRIZZLE_MOD_IMPORT};
 
 ${getStringifiedCollectionExports(collections)}