diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/db/pouch.js b/packages/backend-core/src/db/pouch.js
index a04fd60a0..2a6c27b6d 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/db/pouch.js
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/db/pouch.js
@@ -1,31 +1,53 @@
 const PouchDB = require("pouchdb")
 const env = require("../environment")
 
-exports.getCouchInfo = () => {
-  let url = "http://localhost:4005"
-  if (env.COUCH_DB_URL && env.COUCH_DB_URL.includes("@")) {
-    url = env.COUCH_DB_URL
-  } else if (env.COUCH_DB_URL) {
-    const [protocol, ...rest] = env.COUCH_DB_URL.split("://")
-    url = `${protocol}://${env.COUCH_DB_USERNAME}:${env.COUCH_DB_PASSWORD}@${rest}`
-    if (!env.COUCH_DB_USERNAME || !env.COUCH_DB_PASSWORD) {
-      throw new Error(
-        "CouchDB configuration invalid. You must provide a fully qualified CouchDB url, or the COUCH_DB_USER and COUCH_DB_PASSWORD environment variables."
-      )
-    }
-  }
+function getUrlInfo() {
+  let url = env.COUCH_DB_URL
+  let username, password, host
   const [protocol, rest] = url.split("://")
-  const [auth, host] = rest.split("@")
-  let [username, password] = auth.split(":")
-  if (!username && env.COUCH_DB_USERNAME) {
+  if (url.includes("@")) {
+    const hostParts = rest.split("@")
+    host = hostParts[1]
+    const authParts = hostParts[0].split(":")
+    username = authParts[0]
+    password = authParts[1]
+  } else {
+    host = rest
+  }
+  return {
+    url: `${protocol}://${host}`,
+    auth: {
+      username,
+      password,
+    },
+  }
+}
+
+exports.getCouchInfo = () => {
+  const urlInfo = getUrlInfo()
+  let username
+  let password
+  if (env.COUCH_DB_USERNAME) {
+    // set from env
     username = env.COUCH_DB_USERNAME
+  } else if (urlInfo.auth.username) {
+    // set from url
+    username = urlInfo.auth.username
+  } else {
+    throw new Error("CouchDB username not set")
   }
-  if (!password && env.COUCH_DB_PASSWORD) {
+  if (env.COUCH_DB_PASSWORD) {
+    // set from env
     password = env.COUCH_DB_PASSWORD
+  } else if (urlInfo.auth.password) {
+    // set from url
+    password = urlInfo.auth.password
+  } else {
+    throw new Error("CouchDB password not set")
   }
   const authCookie = Buffer.from(`${username}:${password}`).toString("base64")
   return {
-    url: `${protocol}://${host}`,
+    url: urlInfo.url,
     auth: {
       username: username,
       password: password,
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/environment.js b/packages/backend-core/src/environment.js
index 8a92e3946..26e0d486f 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/environment.js
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/environment.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ function isTest() {
 
 module.exports = {
   JWT_SECRET: process.env.JWT_SECRET,
-  COUCH_DB_URL: process.env.COUCH_DB_URL,
+  COUCH_DB_URL: process.env.COUCH_DB_URL || "http://localhost:4005",
   COUCH_DB_USERNAME: process.env.COUCH_DB_USER,
   COUCH_DB_PASSWORD: process.env.COUCH_DB_PASSWORD,
   GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID: process.env.GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID,