diff --git a/bigchaindb/__init__.py b/bigchaindb/__init__.py
index b90fcea0..b9f096ec 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/__init__.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/__init__.py
@@ -59,6 +59,10 @@ config = {
         'advertised_host': 'localhost',
         'advertised_port': 9985,
     },
+    'tendermint': {
+        'host': 'localhost',
+        'port': 46657,
+    },
     # FIXME: hardcoding to localmongodb for now
     'database': _database_map['localmongodb'],
     'log': {
diff --git a/bigchaindb/commands/bigchaindb.py b/bigchaindb/commands/bigchaindb.py
index ad02d33e..72d31bce 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/commands/bigchaindb.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/commands/bigchaindb.py
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ from bigchaindb.commands import utils
 from bigchaindb.commands.utils import (configure_bigchaindb,
                                        input_on_stderr)
 from bigchaindb.log import setup_logging
-from bigchaindb.tendermint.lib import BigchainDB
 from bigchaindb.tendermint.utils import public_key_from_base64
 
 logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
@@ -82,6 +81,10 @@ def run_configure(args):
             val = conf['database'][key]
             conf['database'][key] = input_on_stderr('Database {}? (default `{}`): '.format(key, val), val)
 
+        for key in ('host', 'port'):
+            val = conf['tendermint'][key]
+            conf['tendermint'][key] = input_on_stderr('Tendermint {}? (default `{}`)'.format(key, val), val)
+
     if config_path != '-':
         bigchaindb.config_utils.write_config(conf, config_path)
     else:
@@ -94,7 +97,7 @@ def run_configure(args):
 def run_upsert_validator(args):
     """Store validators which should be synced with Tendermint"""
 
-    b = bigchaindb.Bigchain()
+    b = bigchaindb.tendermint.lib.BigchainDB()
     public_key = public_key_from_base64(args.public_key)
     validator = {'pub_key': {'type': 'ed25519',
                              'data': public_key},
@@ -110,7 +113,7 @@ def run_upsert_validator(args):
 
 
 def _run_init():
-    bdb = bigchaindb.Bigchain()
+    bdb = bigchaindb.tendermint.lib.BigchainDB()
 
     schema.init_database(connection=bdb.connection)
 
@@ -167,7 +170,7 @@ def run_start(args):
     setup_logging()
 
     logger.info('BigchainDB Version %s', bigchaindb.__version__)
-    run_recover(BigchainDB())
+    run_recover(bigchaindb.tendermint.lib.BigchainDB())
 
     try:
         if not args.skip_initialize_database:
diff --git a/bigchaindb/config_utils.py b/bigchaindb/config_utils.py
index 7a2521fe..be5ab69c 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/config_utils.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/config_utils.py
@@ -248,10 +248,8 @@ def autoconfigure(filename=None, config=None, force=False):
 
     # override configuration with env variables
     newconfig = env_config(newconfig)
-
     if config:
         newconfig = update(newconfig, config)
-
     set_config(newconfig)  # sets bigchaindb.config
 
 
diff --git a/bigchaindb/core.py b/bigchaindb/core.py
index da371abe..14dce4fe 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/core.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/core.py
@@ -41,8 +41,6 @@ class Bigchain(object):
             connection (:class:`~bigchaindb.backend.connection.Connection`):
                 A connection to the database.
         """
-        config_utils.autoconfigure()
-
         consensusPlugin = bigchaindb.config.get('consensus_plugin')
 
         if consensusPlugin:
@@ -50,8 +48,6 @@ class Bigchain(object):
         else:
             self.consensus = BaseConsensusRules
 
-        self.connection = connection if connection else backend.connect(**bigchaindb.config['database'])
-
     def delete_transaction(self, *transaction_id):
         """Delete a transaction from the backlog.
 
diff --git a/bigchaindb/tendermint/event_stream.py b/bigchaindb/tendermint/event_stream.py
index 4d9a59f2..9cbd28f2 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/tendermint/event_stream.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/tendermint/event_stream.py
@@ -2,17 +2,17 @@ import asyncio
 import json
 import logging
 import time
-from os import getenv
 
 import aiohttp
 
+from bigchaindb import config
 from bigchaindb.common.utils import gen_timestamp
 from bigchaindb.events import EventTypes, Event
 from bigchaindb.tendermint.utils import decode_transaction_base64
 
 
-HOST = getenv('BIGCHAINDB_TENDERMINT_HOST', 'localhost')
-PORT = int(getenv('BIGCHAINDB_TENDERMINT_PORT', 46657))
+HOST = config['tendermint']['host']
+PORT = config['tendermint']['port']
 URL = 'ws://{}:{}/websocket'.format(HOST, PORT)
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
diff --git a/bigchaindb/tendermint/lib.py b/bigchaindb/tendermint/lib.py
index 9f13030e..7275eed6 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/tendermint/lib.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/tendermint/lib.py
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ MongoDB.
 import logging
 from collections import namedtuple
 from copy import deepcopy
-from os import getenv
 from uuid import uuid4
 
 try:
@@ -15,8 +14,8 @@ except ImportError:
     from sha3 import sha3_256
 
 import requests
-
-from bigchaindb import backend
+import bigchaindb
+from bigchaindb import backend, config_utils
 from bigchaindb import Bigchain
 from bigchaindb.models import Transaction
 from bigchaindb.common.exceptions import (SchemaValidationError,
@@ -28,24 +27,26 @@ from bigchaindb import exceptions as core_exceptions
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-BIGCHAINDB_TENDERMINT_HOST = getenv('BIGCHAINDB_TENDERMINT_HOST',
-                                    'localhost')
-BIGCHAINDB_TENDERMINT_PORT = getenv('BIGCHAINDB_TENDERMINT_PORT',
-                                    '46657')
-ENDPOINT = 'http://{}:{}/'.format(BIGCHAINDB_TENDERMINT_HOST,
-                                  BIGCHAINDB_TENDERMINT_PORT)
-MODE_LIST = ('broadcast_tx_async',
-             'broadcast_tx_sync',
-             'broadcast_tx_commit')
-
 
 class BigchainDB(Bigchain):
 
+    def __init__(self, connection=None, **kwargs):
+        super().__init__(**kwargs)
+
+        config_utils.autoconfigure()
+        self.mode_list = ('broadcast_tx_async',
+                          'broadcast_tx_sync',
+                          'broadcast_tx_commit')
+        self.tendermint_host = bigchaindb.config['tendermint']['host']
+        self.tendermint_port = bigchaindb.config['tendermint']['port']
+        self.endpoint = 'http://{}:{}/'.format(self.tendermint_host, self.tendermint_port)
+        self.connection = connection if connection else backend.connect(**bigchaindb.config['database'])
+
     def post_transaction(self, transaction, mode):
         """Submit a valid transaction to the mempool."""
-        if not mode or mode not in MODE_LIST:
+        if not mode or mode not in self.mode_list:
             raise ValidationError(('Mode must be one of the following {}.')
-                                  .format(', '.join(MODE_LIST)))
+                                  .format(', '.join(self.mode_list)))
 
         payload = {
             'method': mode,
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ class BigchainDB(Bigchain):
             'id': str(uuid4())
         }
         # TODO: handle connection errors!
-        return requests.post(ENDPOINT, json=payload)
+        return requests.post(self.endpoint, json=payload)
 
     def write_transaction(self, transaction, mode):
         # This method offers backward compatibility with the Web API.
@@ -69,7 +70,7 @@ class BigchainDB(Bigchain):
 
         return (202, '')
         # result = response['result']
-        # if mode == MODE_LIST[2]:
+        # if mode == self.mode_list[2]:
         #     return self._process_commit_mode_response(result)
         # else:
         #     status_code = result['code']
@@ -348,7 +349,7 @@ class BigchainDB(Bigchain):
 
     def get_validators(self):
         try:
-            resp = requests.get('{}validators'.format(ENDPOINT))
+            resp = requests.get('{}validators'.format(self.endpoint))
             validators = resp.json()['result']['validators']
             for v in validators:
                 v.pop('accum')
diff --git a/docs/server/source/appendices/the-bigchaindb-class.rst b/docs/server/source/appendices/the-bigchaindb-class.rst
index ed9e6067..0054e3f4 100644
--- a/docs/server/source/appendices/the-bigchaindb-class.rst
+++ b/docs/server/source/appendices/the-bigchaindb-class.rst
@@ -3,5 +3,3 @@ The BigchainDB Class
 ####################
 
 .. autoclass:: bigchaindb.tendermint.BigchainDB
-
-   .. automethod:: bigchaindb.tendermint.lib.BigchainDB.__init__
diff --git a/docs/server/source/server-reference/configuration.md b/docs/server/source/server-reference/configuration.md
index 3bc1ca31..1e9849fa 100644
--- a/docs/server/source/server-reference/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/server/source/server-reference/configuration.md
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ For convenience, here's a list of all the relevant environment variables (docume
 `BIGCHAINDB_LOG_DATEFMT_LOGFILE`<br>
 `BIGCHAINDB_LOG_FMT_CONSOLE`<br>
 `BIGCHAINDB_LOG_FMT_LOGFILE`<br>
+`BIGCHAINDB_TENDERMINT_HOST`<br>
+`BIGCHAINDB_TENDERMINT_PORT`<br>
 
 
 The local config file is `$HOME/.bigchaindb` by default (a file which might not even exist), but you can tell BigchainDB to use a different file by using the `-c` command-line option, e.g. `bigchaindb -c path/to/config_file.json start`
@@ -426,3 +428,26 @@ logging of the `core.py` module to be more verbose, you would set the
 ```
 
 **Defaults to**: `{}`
+
+## tendermint.host & tendermint.port
+
+The settings with names of the form `tendermint.*` are for
+consensus(Tendermint) backend that we are using:
+
+* `tendermint.host` is the hostname (FQDN)/IP address of the tendermint backend.
+* `tendermint.port` is self-explanatory.
+
+**Example using environment variables**
+```text
+export BIGCHAINDB_TENDERMINT_HOST=tendermint
+export BIGCHAINDB_TENDERMINT_PORT=46657
+```
+
+**Default values**
+
+```js
+"tendermint": {
+    "host": "localhost",
+    "port": 46657,
+}
+```
diff --git a/tests/commands/test_commands.py b/tests/commands/test_commands.py
index 5ee502c6..a81a6938 100644
--- a/tests/commands/test_commands.py
+++ b/tests/commands/test_commands.py
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ def test_bigchain_run_init_when_db_exists(mocker, capsys):
 def test__run_init(mocker):
     from bigchaindb.commands.bigchaindb import _run_init
     bigchain_mock = mocker.patch(
-        'bigchaindb.commands.bigchaindb.bigchaindb.Bigchain')
+        'bigchaindb.commands.bigchaindb.bigchaindb.tendermint.lib.BigchainDB')
     init_db_mock = mocker.patch(
         'bigchaindb.commands.bigchaindb.schema.init_database',
         autospec=True,
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 078896cb..d17afd5c 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -107,6 +107,10 @@ def _configure_bigchaindb(request):
 
     config = {
         'database': bigchaindb._database_map[backend],
+        'tendermint': {
+            'host': 'localhost',
+            'port': 46657,
+        }
     }
     config['database']['name'] = test_db_name
     config = config_utils.env_config(config)