diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 49e8c5f..20ae5f0 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ build:
 test:
   image: python:3.10-slim-bullseye
   stage: test
+  variables:
+    DATABASE: sqlite:///../app/db.sqlite
   before_script:
     - pip install -r requirements.txt
     - pip install pytest httpx
diff --git a/test/main.py b/test/main.py
index aeb52e3..aa9d644 100644
--- a/test/main.py
+++ b/test/main.py
@@ -1,13 +1,11 @@
 from starlette.testclient import TestClient
-import importlib.util
 import sys
 
-MODULE, PATH = 'main.app', '../app/main.py'
+# add relative path to use packages as they were in the app/ dir
+sys.path.append('../')
+sys.path.append('../app')
 
-spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location(MODULE, PATH)
-main = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
-sys.modules[MODULE] = main
-spec.loader.exec_module(main)
+from app import main
 
 client = TestClient(main.app)