diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 2840ab062..521e7194f 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ RUN chmod u+x ./.docker/setup_config.sh
 RUN bash -c "./.docker/setup_config.sh"
 
 # #declare environment variables
-ENV DB_HOST=db
+ENV DB_HOST=''
 ENV WEB_SERVER_HOST=0.0.0.0
 
 ENV LIVERELOAD_SRC=''
diff --git a/setup/tests/start_script.sh b/setup/tests/start_script.sh
index d9bb52eef..c5d2d7e39 100644
--- a/setup/tests/start_script.sh
+++ b/setup/tests/start_script.sh
@@ -4,11 +4,6 @@ cd /src/e-mission-server
 
 #set database URL using environment variable
 echo ${DB_HOST}
-if [ -z ${DB_HOST} ] ; then
-    local_host=`hostname -i`
-    export DB_HOST=$local_host
-    echo "Setting db host environment variable to localhost"
-fi
 
 export WEB_SERVER_HOST=0.0.0.0
 cat conf/storage/db.conf