diff --git a/database/database.go b/database/database.go
index 7a52ae8..c6fb1e4 100644
--- a/database/database.go
+++ b/database/database.go
@@ -80,51 +80,49 @@
 func (p byPath) Less(i, j int) bool { return p[i].Path < p[j].Path }
 func (p byPath) Swap(i, j int)      { p[i], p[j] = p[j], p[i] }
 
-// Configuration variables (and default values of flags.
-var (
-	RedisServer      = "redis://127.0.0.1:6379" // URL of Redis server
-	RedisIdleTimeout = 250 * time.Second        // Close Redis connections after remaining idle for this duration.
-	RedisLog         = false                    // Log database commands
-)
-
-func dialDb() (c redis.Conn, err error) {
-	u, err := url.Parse(RedisServer)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	defer func() {
-		if err != nil && c != nil {
-			c.Close()
+// newDBDialer returns a function which returns connections to a redis
+// database at the given server uri. The server uri should be in the form of:
+// redis://user:pass@host:port
+func newDBDialer(server string, logConn bool) func() (c redis.Conn, err error) {
+	return func() (c redis.Conn, err error) {
+		u, err := url.Parse(server)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
 		}
-	}()
 
-	c, err = redis.Dial("tcp", u.Host)
-	if err != nil {
-		return
-	}
+		defer func() {
+			if err != nil && c != nil {
+				c.Close()
+			}
+		}()
 
-	if RedisLog {
-		l := log.New(os.Stderr, "", log.LstdFlags)
-		c = redis.NewLoggingConn(c, l, "")
-	}
+		c, err = redis.Dial("tcp", u.Host)
+		if err != nil {
+			return c, err
+		}
 
-	if u.User != nil {
-		if pw, ok := u.User.Password(); ok {
-			if _, err = c.Do("AUTH", pw); err != nil {
-				return
+		if logConn {
+			l := log.New(os.Stderr, "", log.LstdFlags)
+			c = redis.NewLoggingConn(c, l, "")
+		}
+
+		if u.User != nil {
+			if pw, ok := u.User.Password(); ok {
+				if _, err = c.Do("AUTH", pw); err != nil {
+					return c, err
+				}
 			}
 		}
+		return c, err
 	}
-	return
 }
 
-// New creates a database configured from command line flags.
-func New() (*Database, error) {
+// New creates a gddo database
+func New(serverUri string, idleTimeout time.Duration, logConn bool) (*Database, error) {
 	pool := &redis.Pool{
-		Dial:        dialDb,
+		Dial:        newDBDialer(serverUri, logConn),
 		MaxIdle:     10,
-		IdleTimeout: RedisIdleTimeout,
+		IdleTimeout: idleTimeout,
 	}
 
 	c := pool.Get()
diff --git a/gddo-server/config.go b/gddo-server/config.go
index 00ed5f4..be929df 100644
--- a/gddo-server/config.go
+++ b/gddo-server/config.go
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/golang/gddo/database"
 	"github.com/golang/gddo/log"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
@@ -19,21 +18,31 @@
 )
 
 const (
-	ConfigMaxAge            = "max_age"
-	ConfigGetTimeout        = "get_timeout"
-	ConfigRobotThreshold    = "robot"
-	ConfigAssetsDir         = "assets"
-	ConfigFirstGetTimeout   = "first_get_timeout"
-	ConfigBindAddress       = "http"
+	// Server Config
 	ConfigProject           = "project"
 	ConfigTrustProxyHeaders = "trust_proxy_headers"
-	ConfigSidebar           = "sidebar"
-	ConfigDefaultGOOS       = "default_goos"
-	ConfigSourcegraphURL    = "sourcegraph_url"
-	ConfigGithubInterval    = "github_interval"
-	ConfigCrawlInterval     = "crawl_interval"
-	ConfigDialTimeout       = "dial_timeout"
-	ConfigRequestTimeout    = "request_timeout"
+	ConfigBindAddress       = "http"
+	ConfigAssetsDir         = "assets"
+	ConfigRobotThreshold    = "robot"
+
+	// Database Config
+	ConfigDBServer      = "db-server"
+	ConfigDBIdleTimeout = "db-idle-timeout"
+	ConfigDBLog         = "db-log"
+
+	// Display Config
+	ConfigSidebar        = "sidebar"
+	ConfigSourcegraphURL = "sourcegraph_url"
+	ConfigDefaultGOOS    = "default_goos"
+
+	// Crawl Config
+	ConfigMaxAge          = "max_age"
+	ConfigGetTimeout      = "get_timeout"
+	ConfigFirstGetTimeout = "first_get_timeout"
+	ConfigGithubInterval  = "github_interval"
+	ConfigCrawlInterval   = "crawl_interval"
+	ConfigDialTimeout     = "dial_timeout"
+	ConfigRequestTimeout  = "request_timeout"
 )
 
 // Initialize configuration
@@ -88,11 +97,9 @@
 	flags.Duration(ConfigCrawlInterval, 0, "Package updater sleeps for this duration between package updates. Zero disables updates.")
 	flags.Duration(ConfigDialTimeout, 5*time.Second, "Timeout for dialing an HTTP connection.")
 	flags.Duration(ConfigRequestTimeout, 20*time.Second, "Time out for roundtripping an HTTP request.")
-
-	// TODO(stephenmw): pass these variables at database creation time.
-	flags.StringVar(&database.RedisServer, "db-server", database.RedisServer, "URI of Redis server.")
-	flags.DurationVar(&database.RedisIdleTimeout, "db-idle-timeout", database.RedisIdleTimeout, "Close Redis connections after remaining idle for this duration.")
-	flags.BoolVar(&database.RedisLog, "db-log", database.RedisLog, "Log database commands")
+	flags.String(ConfigDBServer, "redis://127.0.0.1:6379", "URI of Redis server.")
+	flags.Duration(ConfigDBIdleTimeout, 250*time.Second, "Close Redis connections after remaining idle for this duration.")
+	flags.Bool(ConfigDBLog, false, "Log database commands")
 
 	return flags
 }
diff --git a/gddo-server/main.go b/gddo-server/main.go
index 242531c..a6d9eac 100644
--- a/gddo-server/main.go
+++ b/gddo-server/main.go
@@ -907,7 +907,11 @@
 	}
 
 	var err error
-	db, err = database.New()
+	db, err = database.New(
+		viper.GetString(ConfigDBServer),
+		viper.GetDuration(ConfigDBIdleTimeout),
+		viper.GetBool(ConfigDBLog),
+	)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("Error opening database: %v", err)
 	}