diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index d29a26fda969eb14ac8430b6d175b37d56708f12..16072c382da1f86eddf39c911de4e62553915be3 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -40,19 +40,14 @@ RUN pip install -r requirements.txt
 # Give pip-installed packages priority over distribution packages
 ENV PYTHONPATH /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages:$PYTHONPATH
 
-# Collect static components. First step: set settings module and
-# fake a few other required environment variables
-ENV DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE ${SETTINGS_MODULE}
-ENV DJANGO_DB_PASSWORD fake_password
-ENV DJANGO_SECRET_KEY fake_key
-ENV DJANGO_PRIMARY_FQDN fake_fqdn
-RUN python manage.py collectstatic --noinput
-
-# Unset faked environment variables
-RUN unset DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE \
-    DJANGO_DB_PASSWORD \
-    DJANGO_SECRET_KEY \
-    DJANGO_PRIMARY_FQDN
+# Collect static components. Have to set a settings module envvar
+# and fake a few other required environment variables
+RUN DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=${SETTINGS_MODULE} \
+    DJANGO_DB_NAME=fake_name \
+    DJANGO_DB_PASSWORD=fake_password \
+    DJANGO_SECRET_KEY=fake_key \
+    DJANGO_PRIMARY_FQDN=fake_fqdn \
+    python manage.py collectstatic --noinput
 
 # Expose port and run Gunicorn
 EXPOSE 8000
diff --git a/config/settings/container/base.py b/config/settings/container/base.py
index ef04017187fe02440e78cbde14abe4e6efde2f4d..e088fbb74610307f036e3d373fe3002d45411f10 100644
--- a/config/settings/container/base.py
+++ b/config/settings/container/base.py
@@ -7,10 +7,15 @@ from ..base import *
 
 # Get required variables from environment variables ---------------------------
 # Get database password from environment and check
-DB_PASSWORD = os.environ.get('DJANGO_DB_PASSWORD', None)
-if DB_PASSWORD is None:
+db_password = os.environ.get('DJANGO_DB_PASSWORD', None)
+if db_password is None:
     raise ImproperlyConfigured('Could not get database password from envvars.')
 
+# Get database name from environment and check
+db_name = os.environ.get('DJANGO_DB_NAME', None)
+if db_name is None:
+    raise ImproperlyConfigured('Could not get database name from envvars.')
+
 # Secret key for a Django installation
 SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('DJANGO_SECRET_KEY', None)
 if SECRET_KEY is None:
@@ -29,10 +34,10 @@ TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN = os.environ.get('DJANGO_TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN', 'abcd')
 # Database settings -----------------------------------------------------------
 DATABASES = {
     'default' : {
-        'NAME': 'gracedb',
+        'NAME': db_name,
         'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.mysql',
         'USER': os.environ.get('DJANGO_DB_USER', 'gracedb'),
-        'PASSWORD': DB_PASSWORD,
+        'PASSWORD': db_password,
         'HOST': os.environ.get('DJANGO_DB_HOST', ''),
         'PORT': os.environ.get('DJANGO_DB_PORT', ''),
         'OPTIONS': {