diff --git a/core/_bootstrap.php b/core/_bootstrap.php
deleted file mode 100644
index a561613f..00000000
--- a/core/_bootstrap.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,26 +0,0 @@
-<?php declare(strict_types=1);
-/*
- * Load all the files into memory, sanitise the environment, but don't
- * actually do anything as far as the app is concerned
- */
-
-global $cache, $config, $database, $user, $page, $_tracer;
-
-require_once "core/sys_config.php";
-require_once "core/polyfills.php";
-require_once "core/util.php";
-require_once "vendor/autoload.php";
-
-_sanitise_environment();
-$_tracer->begin("Bootstrap");
-_load_core_files();
-$cache = new Cache(CACHE_DSN);
-$database = new Database(DATABASE_DSN);
-$config = new DatabaseConfig($database);
-ExtensionInfo::load_all_extension_info();
-Extension::determine_enabled_extensions();
-require_all(zglob("ext/{".Extension::get_enabled_extensions_as_string()."}/main.php"));
-_load_theme_files();
-$page = new Page();
-_load_event_listeners();
-$_tracer->end();
diff --git a/core/database.php b/core/database.php
index 4018e588..2db27e42 100644
--- a/core/database.php
+++ b/core/database.php
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ class Database
 
     private function connect_engine(): void
     {
-        if (preg_match("/^([^:]*)/", DATABASE_DSN, $matches)) {
+        if (preg_match("/^([^:]*)/", $this->dsn, $matches)) {
             $db_proto=$matches[1];
         } else {
             throw new SCoreException("Can't figure out database engine");
diff --git a/core/sys_config.php b/core/sys_config.php
index e5778bc6..7055af3b 100644
--- a/core/sys_config.php
+++ b/core/sys_config.php
@@ -1,22 +1,15 @@
 <?php declare(strict_types=1);
-/*
- * First, load the user-specified settings
- */
-@include_once "data/config/shimmie.conf.php";
-@include_once "data/config/extensions.conf.php";
-
-
 /**
- * For any values that aren't defined in the above files, Shimmie
- * will set the values to their defaults
+ * For any values that aren't defined in data/config/*.php,
+ * Shimmie will set the values to their defaults
  *
- * All of these can be over-ridden by placing a 'define' in data/config/shimmie.conf.php
+ * All of these can be over-ridden by placing a 'define' in
+ * data/config/shimmie.conf.php
  *
  * Do NOT change them in this file. These are the defaults only!
  *
  * Example:
  *  define("SPEED_HAX", true);
- *
  */
 
 function _d(string $name, $value): void
diff --git a/ext/upgrade/main.php b/ext/upgrade/main.php
index 56ff1c6c..141c015d 100644
--- a/ext/upgrade/main.php
+++ b/ext/upgrade/main.php
@@ -20,10 +20,6 @@ class Upgrade extends Extension
     {
         global $config, $database;
 
-        if ($config->get_bool("in_upgrade")) {
-            return;
-        }
-
         if (!is_numeric($config->get_string("db_version"))) {
             $this->set_version("db_version", 2);
         }
@@ -32,19 +28,14 @@ class Upgrade extends Extension
         // now done again as v9 with PDO
 
         if ($this->get_version("db_version") < 8) {
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", true);
-
             $database->execute($database->scoreql_to_sql(
                 "ALTER TABLE images ADD COLUMN locked SCORE_BOOL NOT NULL DEFAULT SCORE_BOOL_N"
             ));
 
             $this->set_version("db_version", 8);
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", false);
         }
 
         if ($this->get_version("db_version") < 9) {
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", true);
-
             if ($database->get_driver_name() == DatabaseDriver::MYSQL) {
                 $tables = $database->get_col("SHOW TABLES");
                 foreach ($tables as $table) {
@@ -54,34 +45,25 @@ class Upgrade extends Extension
             }
 
             $this->set_version("db_version", 9);
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", false);
         }
 
         if ($this->get_version("db_version") < 10) {
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", true);
-
             log_info("upgrade", "Adding foreign keys to images");
             $database->Execute("ALTER TABLE images ADD FOREIGN KEY (owner_id) REFERENCES users(id) ON DELETE RESTRICT");
 
             $this->set_version("db_version", 10);
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", false);
         }
 
         if ($this->get_version("db_version") < 11) {
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", true);
-
             log_info("upgrade", "Converting user flags to classes");
             $database->execute("ALTER TABLE users ADD COLUMN class VARCHAR(32) NOT NULL default :user", ["user" => "user"]);
             $database->execute("UPDATE users SET class = :name WHERE id=:id", ["name"=>"anonymous", "id"=>$config->get_int('anon_id')]);
             $database->execute("UPDATE users SET class = :name WHERE admin=:admin", ["name"=>"admin", "admin"=>'Y']);
 
             $this->set_version("db_version", 11);
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", false);
         }
 
         if ($this->get_version("db_version") < 12) {
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", true);
-
             if ($database->get_driver_name() == DatabaseDriver::PGSQL) {
                 log_info("upgrade", "Changing ext column to VARCHAR");
                 $database->execute("ALTER TABLE images ALTER COLUMN ext SET DATA TYPE VARCHAR(4)");
@@ -91,12 +73,9 @@ class Upgrade extends Extension
             $database->execute("UPDATE images SET ext = LOWER(ext)");
 
             $this->set_version("db_version", 12);
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", false);
         }
 
         if ($this->get_version("db_version") < 13) {
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", true);
-
             log_info("upgrade", "Changing password column to VARCHAR(250)");
             if ($database->get_driver_name() == DatabaseDriver::PGSQL) {
                 $database->execute("ALTER TABLE users ALTER COLUMN pass SET DATA TYPE VARCHAR(250)");
@@ -105,12 +84,9 @@ class Upgrade extends Extension
             }
 
             $this->set_version("db_version", 13);
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", false);
         }
 
         if ($this->get_version("db_version") < 14) {
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", true);
-
             log_info("upgrade", "Changing tag column to VARCHAR(255)");
             if ($database->get_driver_name() == DatabaseDriver::PGSQL) {
                 $database->execute('ALTER TABLE tags ALTER COLUMN tag SET DATA TYPE VARCHAR(255)');
@@ -123,12 +99,9 @@ class Upgrade extends Extension
             }
 
             $this->set_version("db_version", 14);
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", false);
         }
 
         if ($this->get_version("db_version") < 15) {
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", true);
-
             log_info("upgrade", "Adding lower indexes for postgresql use");
             if ($database->get_driver_name() == DatabaseDriver::PGSQL) {
                 $database->execute('CREATE INDEX tags_lower_tag_idx ON tags ((lower(tag)))');
@@ -136,12 +109,9 @@ class Upgrade extends Extension
             }
 
             $this->set_version("db_version", 15);
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", false);
         }
 
         if ($this->get_version("db_version") < 16) {
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", true);
-
             log_info("upgrade", "Adding tag_id, image_id index to image_tags");
             $database->execute('CREATE UNIQUE INDEX image_tags_tag_id_image_id_idx ON image_tags(tag_id,image_id) ');
 
@@ -158,12 +128,9 @@ class Upgrade extends Extension
             // SQLite doesn't support altering existing columns? This seems like a problem?
 
             $this->set_version("db_version", 16);
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", false);
         }
 
         if ($this->get_version("db_version") < 17) {
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", true);
-
             log_info("upgrade", "Adding media information columns to images table");
             $database->execute($database->scoreql_to_sql(
                 "ALTER TABLE images ADD COLUMN lossless SCORE_BOOL NULL"
@@ -197,7 +164,6 @@ class Upgrade extends Extension
             $database->execute('CREATE INDEX images_ext_idx ON images(ext)');
 
             $this->set_version("db_version", 17);
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", false);
         }
 
         if ($this->get_version("db_version") < 18) {
@@ -215,7 +181,6 @@ class Upgrade extends Extension
             $database->execute($database->scoreql_to_sql("UPDATE images SET audio = SCORE_BOOL_N WHERE ext IN ('webp')"));
             $database->execute($database->scoreql_to_sql("UPDATE images SET lossless = SCORE_BOOL_N, video = SCORE_BOOL_Y WHERE ext IN ('flv','mp4','m4v','ogv','webm')"));
             $this->set_version("db_version", 18);
-            $config->set_bool("in_upgrade", false);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index c5155302..97d65540 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -43,6 +43,10 @@
  * Each of these can be imported at the start of a function with eg "global $page, $user;"
  */
 
+/* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *\
+* Make sure that shimmie is correctly installed                             *
+\* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */
+
 if (!file_exists("data/config/shimmie.conf.php")) {
     require_once "core/_install.php";
     exit;
@@ -79,7 +83,39 @@ EOD;
     exit;
 }
 
-require_once "core/_bootstrap.php";
+require_once "vendor/autoload.php";
+
+
+/* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *\
+* Load files                                                                *
+\* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */
+
+@include_once "data/config/shimmie.conf.php";
+@include_once "data/config/extensions.conf.php";
+require_once "core/sys_config.php";
+require_once "core/polyfills.php";
+require_once "core/util.php";
+
+global $cache, $config, $database, $user, $page, $_tracer;
+_sanitise_environment();
+$_tracer->begin("Bootstrap");
+_load_core_files();
+$cache = new Cache(CACHE_DSN);
+$database = new Database(DATABASE_DSN);
+$config = new DatabaseConfig($database);
+ExtensionInfo::load_all_extension_info();
+Extension::determine_enabled_extensions();
+require_all(zglob("ext/{".Extension::get_enabled_extensions_as_string()."}/main.php"));
+_load_theme_files();
+$page = new Page();
+_load_event_listeners();
+$_tracer->end();
+
+
+/* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *\
+* Send events, display output                                               *
+\* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */
+
 //$_tracer->mark(@$_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"]);
 $_tracer->begin($_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"] ?? "No Request");
 
diff --git a/tests/bootstrap.php b/tests/bootstrap.php
index 401f8857..8ba3b374 100644
--- a/tests/bootstrap.php
+++ b/tests/bootstrap.php
@@ -1,14 +1,29 @@
 <?php
-define("UNITTEST", true);
-define("TIMEZONE", 'UTC');
-define("EXTRA_EXTS", str_replace("ext/", "", implode(',', glob('ext/*'))));
-define("BASE_HREF", "/");
-define("CLI_LOG_LEVEL", 50);
+chdir(dirname(dirname(__FILE__)));
+require_once "vendor/autoload.php";
+require_once "tests/defines.php";
+require_once "core/sys_config.php";
+require_once "core/polyfills.php";
+require_once "core/util.php";
 
 $_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'] = '/';
 
-chdir(dirname(dirname(__FILE__)));
-require_once "core/_bootstrap.php";
+global $cache, $config, $database, $user, $page, $_tracer;
+_sanitise_environment();
+_load_core_files();
+$cache = new Cache(CACHE_DSN);
+$id = bin2hex(random_bytes(5));
+$database = new Database("sqlite:data/shimmie.test.$id.sqlite");
+create_dirs();
+create_tables($database);
+$config = new DatabaseConfig($database);
+ExtensionInfo::load_all_extension_info();
+Extension::determine_enabled_extensions();
+require_all(zglob("ext/{".Extension::get_enabled_extensions_as_string()."}/main.php"));
+_load_theme_files();
+$page = new Page();
+_load_event_listeners();
+
 if (AUTO_DB_UPGRADE) {
     send_event(new DatabaseUpgradeEvent());
 }
diff --git a/tests/defines.php b/tests/defines.php
index 0b22bb65..42c89960 100644
--- a/tests/defines.php
+++ b/tests/defines.php
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 <?php
+define("UNITTEST", true);
+define("EXTRA_EXTS", str_replace("ext/", "", implode(',', glob('ext/*'))));
+
 define("DATABASE_DSN", null);
 define("DATABASE_TIMEOUT", 10000);
 define("CACHE_DSN", null);
@@ -12,8 +15,6 @@ define("NICE_URLS", false);
 define("SEARCH_ACCEL", false);
 define("WH_SPLITS", 1);
 define("VERSION", '2.8-dev');
-define("TIMEZONE", null);
-define("EXTRA_EXTS", "");
 define("BASE_URL", null);
 define("MIN_PHP_VERSION", '7.3');
 define("TRACE_FILE", null);
@@ -21,3 +22,7 @@ define("TRACE_THRESHOLD", 0.0);
 define("ENABLED_MODS", "imageboard");
 define("SCORE_VERSION", 'develop/'.VERSION);
 define("AUTO_DB_UPGRADE", true);
+define("TIMEZONE", 'UTC');
+define("BASE_HREF", "/");
+define("CLI_LOG_LEVEL", 50);
+