diff --git a/bigchaindb/backend/connection.py b/bigchaindb/backend/connection.py
index 2fc7d856..f96b8bbf 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/backend/connection.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/backend/connection.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import bigchaindb
 from bigchaindb.common.exceptions import ConfigurationError
 from importlib import import_module
 
@@ -7,7 +8,11 @@ BACKENDS = {
 }
 
 
-def connect(backend, host, port, dbname):
+def connect(backend, host=None, port=None, name=None):
+    host = host or bigchaindb.config['database']['host']
+    port = port or bigchaindb.config['database']['port']
+    name = name or bigchaindb.config['database']['name']
+
     try:
         module_name, _, class_name = BACKENDS[backend].rpartition('.')
         Class = getattr(import_module(module_name), class_name)
@@ -17,7 +22,7 @@ def connect(backend, host, port, dbname):
     except (ImportError, AttributeError) as exc:
         raise ConfigurationError('Error loading backend `{}`'.format(backend)) from exc
 
-    return Class(host, port, dbname)
+    return Class(host, port, name)
 
 
 class Connection:
diff --git a/bigchaindb/core.py b/bigchaindb/core.py
index 3cc669b8..fdf7588e 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/core.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/core.py
@@ -10,8 +10,7 @@ from bigchaindb.common.transaction import TransactionLink, Asset
 
 import bigchaindb
 
-from bigchaindb import backend
-from bigchaindb import config_utils, util
+from bigchaindb import backend, config_utils, util
 from bigchaindb.consensus import BaseConsensusRules
 from bigchaindb.models import Block, Transaction
 
diff --git a/tests/backend/test_connection.py b/tests/backend/test_connection.py
index 4300141f..bdc336a9 100644
--- a/tests/backend/test_connection.py
+++ b/tests/backend/test_connection.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ def test_get_connection_returns_the_correct_instance():
         'backend': 'rethinkdb',
         'host': 'localhost',
         'port': 28015,
-        'dbname': 'test'
+        'name': 'test'
     }
 
     conn = connect(**config)