diff --git a/server/util.go b/server/util.go
index 9a6ae40f786e..97247ca6d5f8 100644
--- a/server/util.go
+++ b/server/util.go
@@ -391,6 +391,9 @@ func WaitForQuitSignals() ErrorCode {
 // GetAppDBBackend gets the backend type to use for the application DBs.
 func GetAppDBBackend(opts types.AppOptions) dbm.BackendType {
 	rv := cast.ToString(opts.Get("app-db-backend"))
+	if len(rv) == 0 {
+		rv = sdk.DBBackend
+	}
 	if len(rv) == 0 {
 		rv = cast.ToString(opts.Get("db_backend"))
 	}