diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 424dd26e..afce0872 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ DB_NAME = 'bigchain_test_{}'.format(os.getpid())
 
 CONFIG = {
     'database': {
-        'backend': 'rethinkdb',
         'name': DB_NAME,
     },
     'keypair': {