diff --git a/alembic/env.py b/alembic/env.py
index 940ac85..cbb52c1 100644
--- a/alembic/env.py
+++ b/alembic/env.py
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-import os
-
 from logging.config import fileConfig
 
 from sqlalchemy import engine_from_config
@@ -7,10 +5,12 @@ from sqlalchemy import pool
 
 from alembic import context
 
+from mev_inspect.db import get_sqlalchemy_database_uri
+
 # this is the Alembic Config object, which provides
 # access to the values within the .ini file in use.
 config = context.config
-config.set_main_option("sqlalchemy.url", os.environ["SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI"])
+config.set_main_option("sqlalchemy.url", get_sqlalchemy_database_uri())
 
 # Interpret the config file for Python logging.
 # This line sets up loggers basically.
diff --git a/mev_inspect/db.py b/mev_inspect/db.py
index 556f068..712b708 100644
--- a/mev_inspect/db.py
+++ b/mev_inspect/db.py
@@ -4,13 +4,16 @@ from sqlalchemy import create_engine
 from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
 
 
-def get_engine():
+def get_sqlalchemy_database_uri():
     username = os.getenv("POSTGRES_USER")
     password = os.getenv("POSTGRES_PASSWORD")
     server = "postgresql"
     db_name = "mev_inspect"
-    uri = f"postgresql://{username}:{password}@{server}/{db_name}"
-    return create_engine(uri)
+    return f"postgresql://{username}:{password}@{server}/{db_name}"
+
+
+def get_engine():
+    return create_engine(get_sqlalchemy_database_uri())
 
 
 def get_session():