diff --git a/packages/tests/src/nwaku.ts b/packages/tests/src/nwaku.ts
index 5401fbd587..f3d2dab561 100644
--- a/packages/tests/src/nwaku.ts
+++ b/packages/tests/src/nwaku.ts
@@ -164,6 +164,8 @@ export class Nwaku {
       args
     );
 
+    process.env.WAKUNODE2_STORE_MESSAGE_DB_URL = "";
+
     const argsArray = argsToArray(mergedArgs);
     if (WAKU_SERVICE_NODE_PARAMS) {
       argsArray.push(WAKU_SERVICE_NODE_PARAMS);
@@ -442,7 +444,6 @@ export function defaultArgs(): Args {
     rpc: true,
     rpcAdmin: true,
     websocketSupport: true,
-    storeMessageDbUrl: "sqlite://:memory:",
     logLevel: LogLevel.Trace,
   };
 }
diff --git a/packages/tests/tests/nwaku.node.spec.ts b/packages/tests/tests/nwaku.node.spec.ts
index 1b279f5de2..45edb8bf0f 100644
--- a/packages/tests/tests/nwaku.node.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/tests/tests/nwaku.node.spec.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ describe("nwaku", () => {
       "--rpc=true",
       "--rpc-admin=true",
       "--websocket-support=true",
-      "--store-message-db-url=sqlite://:memory:",
       "--log-level=TRACE",
       "--ports-shift=42",
     ];