diff --git a/src/github.com/otoolep/rqlite/db/db.go b/src/github.com/otoolep/rqlite/db/db.go
index fd763078..01a5ae27 100644
--- a/src/github.com/otoolep/rqlite/db/db.go
+++ b/src/github.com/otoolep/rqlite/db/db.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package db
 import (
 	"database/sql"
 	"errors"
+	"os"
 
 	_ "github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
 
@@ -26,8 +27,14 @@ type DB struct {
 type RowResult map[string]string
 type RowResults []map[string]string
 
-// New creates a new database.
+// New creates a new database. Deletes any existing database.
 func New(dbPath string) *DB {
+	os.Remove(dbPath)
+	return Open(dbPath)
+}
+
+// Open an existing database, creating it if it does not exist.
+func Open(dbPath string) *DB {
 	log.Trace("SQLite database path is %s", dbPath)
 	dbc, err := sql.Open("sqlite3", dbPath)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/src/github.com/otoolep/rqlite/db/db_test.go b/src/github.com/otoolep/rqlite/db/db_test.go
index 66d86151..cdc3642a 100644
--- a/src/github.com/otoolep/rqlite/db/db_test.go
+++ b/src/github.com/otoolep/rqlite/db/db_test.go
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ func (s *DbSuite) Test_TransactionsHardFail(c *C) {
 	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
 	db.Close()
 
-	db = New(path.Join(dir, "test_db"))
+	db = Open(path.Join(dir, "test_db"))
 	c.Assert(db, NotNil)
 	r, err := db.Query("SELECT * FROM foo")
 	c.Assert(len(r), Equals, 1)