diff --git a/core/server/config/defaults.json b/core/server/config/defaults.json
index 456828f9a8..5d8d3798e1 100644
--- a/core/server/config/defaults.json
+++ b/core/server/config/defaults.json
@@ -4,13 +4,6 @@
         "host": "127.0.0.1",
         "port": 2368
     },
-    "database": {
-        "client": "sqlite3",
-        "debug": false,
-        "connection": {
-            "filename": "content/data/ghost.db"
-        }
-    },
     "privacy": false,
     "paths": {
         "contentPath": "content/"
diff --git a/core/server/config/env/config.development.json b/core/server/config/env/config.development.json
index a52ab624fc..6fb291d68a 100644
--- a/core/server/config/env/config.development.json
+++ b/core/server/config/env/config.development.json
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
     "url": "http://localhost:2368",
     "database": {
+        "client": "sqlite3",
         "connection": {
             "filename": "content/data/ghost-dev.db"
         },
diff --git a/core/server/config/env/config.production.json b/core/server/config/env/config.production.json
index 1d3d647c5d..0d114d2414 100644
--- a/core/server/config/env/config.production.json
+++ b/core/server/config/env/config.production.json
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
 {
     "url": "http://my-ghost-blog.com",
     "database": {
+        "client": "mysql",
         "connection": {
-            "filename": "content/data/ghost.db"
-        },
-        "debug": false
+            "host"     : "127.0.0.1",
+            "user"     : "root",
+            "password" : "",
+            "database" : "ghost"
+        }
     },
     "paths": {
         "contentPath": "content/"
@@ -14,6 +17,6 @@
         "rotation": {
             "enabled": true
         },
-        "transports": ["file"]
+        "transports": ["file", "stdout"]
     }
 }
diff --git a/core/server/config/env/config.testing.json b/core/server/config/env/config.testing.json
index 13dc986399..b0ae6e6003 100644
--- a/core/server/config/env/config.testing.json
+++ b/core/server/config/env/config.testing.json
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 {
     "url": "http://127.0.0.1:2369",
     "database": {
+        "client": "sqlite3",
         "connection": {
             "filename": "content/data/ghost-test.db"
         },
-        "useNullAsDefault": true
+        "useNullAsDefault": true,
+        "debug": false
     },
     "server": {
         "port": 2369
diff --git a/core/server/config/index.js b/core/server/config/index.js
index 34c94e4c36..832f500e7c 100644
--- a/core/server/config/index.js
+++ b/core/server/config/index.js
@@ -40,7 +40,9 @@ _private.loadNconf = function loadNconf(options) {
     nconf.makePathsAbsolute = localUtils.makePathsAbsolute.bind(nconf);
     nconf.isPrivacyDisabled = localUtils.isPrivacyDisabled.bind(nconf);
     nconf.getContentPath = localUtils.getContentPath.bind(nconf);
+    nconf.sanitizeDatabaseProperties = localUtils.sanitizeDatabaseProperties.bind(nconf);
 
+    nconf.sanitizeDatabaseProperties();
     nconf.makePathsAbsolute(nconf.get('paths'), 'paths');
     nconf.makePathsAbsolute(nconf.get('database:connection'), 'database:connection');
 
diff --git a/core/server/config/utils.js b/core/server/config/utils.js
index c75036209d..4b7c613d0f 100644
--- a/core/server/config/utils.js
+++ b/core/server/config/utils.js
@@ -81,3 +81,25 @@ exports.getContentPath = function getContentPath(type) {
             throw new Error('getContentPath was called with: ' + type);
     }
 };
+
+/**
+ * nconf merges all database keys together and this can be confusing
+ * e.g. production default database is sqlite, but you override the configuration with mysql
+ *
+ * this.clear('key') does not work
+ * https://github.com/indexzero/nconf/issues/235#issuecomment-257606507
+ */
+exports.sanitizeDatabaseProperties = function sanitizeDatabaseProperties() {
+    var database = this.get('database');
+
+    if (this.get('database:client') === 'mysql') {
+        delete database.connection.filename;
+    } else {
+        delete database.connection.host;
+        delete database.connection.user;
+        delete database.connection.password;
+        delete database.connection.database;
+    }
+
+    this.set('database', database);
+};