diff --git a/config.yml b/config.yml
index df0b400..4acf3e3 100644
--- a/config.yml
+++ b/config.yml
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ opengist-home:
 # Secret key used for session store & encrypt MFA data on database. Default: <randomized 32 bytes>
 secret-key:
 
-# URI of the database. Default: opengist.db (SQLite)
-# SQLite:        file name
+# URI of the database. Default: opengist.db (SQLite) is placed in opengist-home
+# SQLite:        file:/path/to/database
 # PostgreSQL:    postgres://user:password@host:port/database
 # MySQL/MariaDB: mysql://user:password@host:port/database
 db-uri: opengist.db
diff --git a/docs/configuration/databases/sqlite.md b/docs/configuration/databases/sqlite.md
index ff3be8f..d5367ca 100644
--- a/docs/configuration/databases/sqlite.md
+++ b/docs/configuration/databases/sqlite.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ By default, Opengist uses SQLite as the database backend.
 Because SQLite is a file-based database, there is not much configuration to tweak.
 
 The configuration `db-uri`/`OG_DB_URI` refers to the path of the SQLite database file relative in the `$opengist-home/` directory (default `opengist.db`),
-although it can be left untouched.
+although it can be left untouched. You can also use an absolute path outside the `$opengist-home/` directory.
 
 The SQLite journal mode is set to [`WAL` (Write-Ahead Logging)](https://www.sqlite.org/pragma.html#pragma_journal_mode) by default and can be changed.
 
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ The SQLite journal mode is set to [`WAL` (Write-Ahead Logging)](https://www.sqli
 # default
 db-uri: opengist.db
 sqlite.journal-mode: WAL
+
+# absolute path outside the $opengist-home/ directory
+db-uri: file:/home/user/opengist.db
 ```
 
 #### Environment variable
diff --git a/internal/db/db.go b/internal/db/db.go
index 6c7f85c..3b5c027 100644
--- a/internal/db/db.go
+++ b/internal/db/db.go
@@ -46,25 +46,24 @@ var DatabaseInfo *databaseInfo
 func parseDBURI(uri string) (*databaseInfo, error) {
 	info := &databaseInfo{}
 
-	if !strings.Contains(uri, "://") {
-		info.Type = SQLite
-		if uri == "file::memory:" {
-			info.Database = "file::memory:"
-			return info, nil
-		}
-		info.Database = filepath.Join(config.GetHomeDir(), uri)
-		return info, nil
-	}
 	u, err := url.Parse(uri)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid URI: %v", err)
 	}
 
+	if u.Scheme == "" {
+		info.Type = SQLite
+		info.Database = filepath.Join(config.GetHomeDir(), uri)
+		return info, nil
+	}
+
 	switch u.Scheme {
 	case "postgres", "postgresql":
 		info.Type = PostgreSQL
 	case "mysql", "mariadb":
 		info.Type = MySQL
+	case "file":
+		info.Type = SQLite
 	default:
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown database: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -83,6 +82,8 @@ func parseDBURI(uri string) (*databaseInfo, error) {
 	switch info.Type {
 	case PostgreSQL, MySQL:
 		info.Database = strings.TrimPrefix(u.Path, "/")
+	case SQLite:
+		info.Database = u.String()
 	default:
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown database: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -190,12 +191,21 @@ func setupSQLite(dbInfo databaseInfo, sharedCache bool) error {
 		log.Warn().Msg("Invalid SQLite journal mode: " + journalMode)
 	}
 
-	sharedCacheStr := ""
-	if sharedCache {
-		sharedCacheStr = "&cache=shared"
+	u, err := url.Parse(dbInfo.Database)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 
-	db, err = gorm.Open(sqlite.Open(dbInfo.Database+"?_fk=true&_journal_mode="+journalMode+sharedCacheStr), &gorm.Config{
+	u.Scheme = "file"
+	q := u.Query()
+	q.Set("_fk", "true")
+	q.Set("_journal_mode", journalMode)
+	if sharedCache {
+		q.Set("cache", "shared")
+	}
+	u.RawQuery = q.Encode()
+	dsn := u.String()
+	db, err = gorm.Open(sqlite.Open(dsn), &gorm.Config{
 		Logger:         logger.Default.LogMode(logger.Silent),
 		TranslateError: true,
 	})