diff --git a/ara/server/settings.py b/ara/server/settings.py
index ea9a4355..139ed33c 100644
--- a/ara/server/settings.py
+++ b/ara/server/settings.py
@@ -230,7 +230,12 @@ if not os.path.exists(DEFAULT_SETTINGS) and "ARA_SETTINGS" not in os.environ:
         CORS_ORIGIN_WHITELIST=CORS_ORIGIN_WHITELIST,
         CORS_ORIGIN_ALLOW_ALL=CORS_ORIGIN_ALLOW_ALL,
         SECRET_KEY=SECRET_KEY,
-        DATABASES=DATABASES,
+        DATABASE_ENGINE=DATABASE_ENGINE,
+        DATABASE_NAME=DATABASE_NAME,
+        DATABASE_USER=DATABASE_USER,
+        DATABASE_PASSWORD=DATABASE_PASSWORD,
+        DATABASE_HOST=DATABASE_HOST,
+        DATABASE_PORT=DATABASE_PORT,
         DEBUG=DEBUG,
         LOG_LEVEL=LOG_LEVEL,
         LOGGING=LOGGING,
diff --git a/doc/source/api-configuration.rst b/doc/source/api-configuration.rst
index a3ef7cb5..ef9cc604 100644
--- a/doc/source/api-configuration.rst
+++ b/doc/source/api-configuration.rst
@@ -317,11 +317,12 @@ ARA_DATABASE_ENGINE
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 - **Environment variable**: ``ARA_DATABASE_ENGINE``
-- **Configuration file variable**: ``DATABASES["default"]["ENGINE"]``
+- **Configuration file variable**: ``DATABASE_ENGINE``
 - **Provided by**: Django's ENGINE_ database setting
 - **Type**: ``string``
 - **Default**: ``django.db.backends.sqlite3``
 - **Examples**:
+
   - ``django.db.backends.postgresql``
   - ``django.db.backends.mysql``
 
@@ -334,7 +335,7 @@ ARA_DATABASE_NAME
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 - **Environment variable**: ``ARA_DATABASE_NAME``
-- **Configuration file variable**: ``DATABASES["default"]["NAME"]``
+- **Configuration file variable**: ``DATABASE_NAME``
 - **Provided by**: Django's NAME_ database setting
 - **Type**: ``string``
 - **Default**: ``~/.ara/server/ansible.sqlite``
@@ -348,7 +349,7 @@ ARA_DATABASE_USER
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 - **Environment variable**: ``ARA_DATABASE_USER``
-- **Configuration file variable**: ``DATABASES["default"]["USER"]``
+- **Configuration file variable**: ``DATABASE_USER``
 - **Provided by**: Django's USER_ database setting
 - **Type**: ``string``
 - **Default**: ``None``
@@ -361,7 +362,7 @@ ARA_DATABASE_PASSWORD
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 - **Environment variable**: ``ARA_DATABASE_PASSWORD``
-- **Configuration file variable**: ``DATABASES["default"]["PASSWORD"]``
+- **Configuration file variable**: ``DATABASE_PASSWORD``
 - **Provided by**: Django's PASSWORD_ database setting
 - **Type**: ``string``
 - **Default**: ``None``
@@ -374,7 +375,7 @@ ARA_DATABASE_HOST
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 - **Environment variable**: ``ARA_DATABASE_HOST``
-- **Configuration file variable**: ``DATABASES["default"]["HOST"]``
+- **Configuration file variable**: ``DATABASE_HOST``
 - **Provided by**: Django's HOST_ database setting
 - **Type**: ``string``
 - **Default**: ``None``
@@ -387,7 +388,7 @@ ARA_DATABASE_PORT
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 - **Environment variable**: ``ARA_DATABASE_PORT``
-- **Configuration file variable**: ``DATABASES["default"]["PORT"]``
+- **Configuration file variable**: ``DATABASE_PORT``
 - **Provided by**: Django's PORT_ database setting
 - **Type**: ``string``
 - **Default**: ``None``
@@ -395,4 +396,4 @@ ARA_DATABASE_PORT
 The port to use when connecting to the database server.
 
 It is not required to set the port if you're using default ports for MySQL or
-PostgreSQL.
\ No newline at end of file
+PostgreSQL.
diff --git a/roles/ara_api/tasks/config.yaml b/roles/ara_api/tasks/config.yaml
index 03cc5a1b..459b072c 100644
--- a/roles/ara_api/tasks/config.yaml
+++ b/roles/ara_api/tasks/config.yaml
@@ -67,14 +67,12 @@
       BASE_DIR: "{{ ara_api_base_dir }}"
       CORS_ORIGIN_ALLOW_ALL: "{{ ara_api_cors_origin_allow_all }}"
       CORS_ORIGIN_WHITELIST: "{{ ara_api_cors_origin_whitelist }}"
-      DATABASES:
-        default:
-          ENGINE: "{{ ara_api_database_engine }}"
-          NAME: "{{ ara_api_database_name }}"
-          USER: "{{ ara_api_database_user }}"
-          PASSWORD: "{{ ara_api_database_password }}"
-          HOST: "{{ ara_api_database_host }}"
-          PORT: "{{ ara_api_database_port }}"
+      DATABASE_ENGINE: "{{ ara_api_database_engine }}"
+      DATABASE_NAME: "{{ ara_api_database_name }}"
+      DATABASE_USER: "{{ ara_api_database_user }}"
+      DATABASE_PASSWORD: "{{ ara_api_database_password }}"
+      DATABASE_HOST: "{{ ara_api_database_host }}"
+      DATABASE_PORT: "{{ ara_api_database_port }}"
       DEBUG: "{{ ara_api_debug }}"
       LOGGING: "{{ ara_api_logging }}"
       LOG_LEVEL: "{{ ara_api_log_level }}"