diff --git a/cmd/podman/root.go b/cmd/podman/root.go
index d01b1eb6db..d4de64f4b5 100644
--- a/cmd/podman/root.go
+++ b/cmd/podman/root.go
@@ -423,6 +423,9 @@ func rootFlags(cmd *cobra.Command, podmanConfig *entities.PodmanConfig) {
 		}
 		podmanConfig.Remote = true
 	} else {
+		// A *hidden* flag to change the database backend.
+		pFlags.StringVar(&podmanConfig.ContainersConf.Engine.DBBackend, "db-backend", podmanConfig.ContainersConfDefaultsRO.Engine.DBBackend, "Database backend to use")
+
 		cgroupManagerFlagName := "cgroup-manager"
 		pFlags.StringVar(&podmanConfig.ContainersConf.Engine.CgroupManager, cgroupManagerFlagName, podmanConfig.ContainersConfDefaultsRO.Engine.CgroupManager, "Cgroup manager to use (\"cgroupfs\"|\"systemd\")")
 		_ = cmd.RegisterFlagCompletionFunc(cgroupManagerFlagName, common.AutocompleteCgroupManager)
@@ -498,6 +501,7 @@ func rootFlags(cmd *cobra.Command, podmanConfig *entities.PodmanConfig) {
 		// Hide these flags for both ABI and Tunneling
 		for _, f := range []string{
 			"cpu-profile",
+			"db-backend",
 			"default-mounts-file",
 			"max-workers",
 			"memory-profile",
diff --git a/libpod/define/info.go b/libpod/define/info.go
index 28260918b5..559006e9ba 100644
--- a/libpod/define/info.go
+++ b/libpod/define/info.go
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ type HostInfo struct {
 	Conmon            *ConmonInfo      `json:"conmon"`
 	CPUs              int              `json:"cpus"`
 	CPUUtilization    *CPUUsage        `json:"cpuUtilization"`
+	DatabaseBackend   string           `json:"databaseBackend"`
 	Distribution      DistributionInfo `json:"distribution"`
 	EventLogger       string           `json:"eventLogger"`
 	Hostname          string           `json:"hostname"`
diff --git a/libpod/info.go b/libpod/info.go
index 953ca0539e..82047b123c 100644
--- a/libpod/info.go
+++ b/libpod/info.go
@@ -100,22 +100,23 @@ func (r *Runtime) hostInfo() (*define.HostInfo, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	info := define.HostInfo{
-		Arch:           runtime.GOARCH,
-		BuildahVersion: buildah.Version,
-		Linkmode:       linkmode.Linkmode(),
-		CPUs:           runtime.NumCPU(),
-		CPUUtilization: cpuUtil,
-		Distribution:   hostDistributionInfo,
-		LogDriver:      r.config.Containers.LogDriver,
-		EventLogger:    r.eventer.String(),
-		Hostname:       host,
-		Kernel:         kv,
-		MemFree:        mi.MemFree,
-		MemTotal:       mi.MemTotal,
-		NetworkBackend: r.config.Network.NetworkBackend,
-		OS:             runtime.GOOS,
-		SwapFree:       mi.SwapFree,
-		SwapTotal:      mi.SwapTotal,
+		Arch:            runtime.GOARCH,
+		BuildahVersion:  buildah.Version,
+		DatabaseBackend: r.config.Engine.DBBackend,
+		Linkmode:        linkmode.Linkmode(),
+		CPUs:            runtime.NumCPU(),
+		CPUUtilization:  cpuUtil,
+		Distribution:    hostDistributionInfo,
+		LogDriver:       r.config.Containers.LogDriver,
+		EventLogger:     r.eventer.String(),
+		Hostname:        host,
+		Kernel:          kv,
+		MemFree:         mi.MemFree,
+		MemTotal:        mi.MemTotal,
+		NetworkBackend:  r.config.Network.NetworkBackend,
+		OS:              runtime.GOOS,
+		SwapFree:        mi.SwapFree,
+		SwapTotal:       mi.SwapTotal,
 	}
 	if err := r.setPlatformHostInfo(&info); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/libpod/options.go b/libpod/options.go
index 56086edd4d..d6b170e408 100644
--- a/libpod/options.go
+++ b/libpod/options.go
@@ -282,6 +282,16 @@ func WithRegistriesConf(path string) RuntimeOption {
 	}
 }
 
+// WithDatabaseBackend configures the runtime's database backend.
+func WithDatabaseBackend(value string) RuntimeOption {
+	logrus.Debugf("Setting custom database backend: %q", value)
+	return func(rt *Runtime) error {
+		// The value will be parsed later on.
+		rt.config.Engine.DBBackend = value
+		return nil
+	}
+}
+
 // WithHooksDir sets the directories to look for OCI runtime hook configuration.
 func WithHooksDir(hooksDirs ...string) RuntimeOption {
 	return func(rt *Runtime) error {
diff --git a/pkg/domain/entities/engine.go b/pkg/domain/entities/engine.go
index aa5ad69260..984c69f5c1 100644
--- a/pkg/domain/entities/engine.go
+++ b/pkg/domain/entities/engine.go
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ type PodmanConfig struct {
 
 	ContainersConf           *config.Config
 	ContainersConfDefaultsRO *config.Config // The read-only! defaults from containers.conf.
+	DBBackend                string         // Hidden: change the database backend
 	DockerConfig             string         // Used for Docker compatibility
 	CgroupUsage              string         // rootless code determines Usage message
 	ConmonPath               string         // --conmon flag will set Engine.ConmonPath
diff --git a/pkg/domain/infra/runtime_libpod.go b/pkg/domain/infra/runtime_libpod.go
index bd73d20f96..a2cf003bcf 100644
--- a/pkg/domain/infra/runtime_libpod.go
+++ b/pkg/domain/infra/runtime_libpod.go
@@ -265,6 +265,10 @@ func getRuntime(ctx context.Context, fs *flag.FlagSet, opts *engineOpts) (*libpo
 		options = append(options, libpod.WithRegistriesConf(cfg.RegistriesConf))
 	}
 
+	if fs.Changed("db-backend") {
+		options = append(options, libpod.WithDatabaseBackend(cfg.ContainersConf.Engine.DBBackend))
+	}
+
 	// no need to handle the error, it will return false anyway
 	if syslog, _ := fs.GetBool("syslog"); syslog {
 		options = append(options, libpod.WithSyslog())
diff --git a/test/system/005-info.bats b/test/system/005-info.bats
index 8cf5eabb23..8561a873c7 100644
--- a/test/system/005-info.bats
+++ b/test/system/005-info.bats
@@ -150,4 +150,16 @@ host.slirp4netns.executable | $expr_path
     fi
 }
 
+@test "podman --db-backend info - basic output" {
+    # TODO: this tests needs to change once sqlite is being tested in the system tests
+    skip_if_remote "--db-backend does not work on a remote client"
+    for backend in boltdb sqlite; do
+        run_podman --db-backend=$backend info --format "{{ .Host.DatabaseBackend }}"
+        is "$output" "$backend"
+    done
+
+    run_podman 125 --db-backend=bogus info --format "{{ .Host.DatabaseBackend }}"
+    is "$output" "Error: unsupported database backend: \"bogus\""
+}
+
 # vim: filetype=sh