diff --git a/src/commands/CmdDiagnostics.cpp b/src/commands/CmdDiagnostics.cpp
index 06247c03..0baab7fd 100644
--- a/src/commands/CmdDiagnostics.cpp
+++ b/src/commands/CmdDiagnostics.cpp
@@ -157,15 +157,15 @@ int CmdDiagnostics (Rules& rules, Database& database, Extensions& extensions, Lo
       << (env ? env : "-")
       << "\n";
 
-  File cfg (rules.get ("db") + "/timewarrior.cfg");
+  File cfg (rules.get ("temp.db") + "/timewarrior.cfg");
   out << "            Cfg: " << describeFile (cfg) << "\n";
 
-  Directory db (rules.get ("db"));
+  Directory db (rules.get ("temp.db"));
   out << "       Database: " << describeFile (db) << "\n";
 
   for (auto& file : database.files ())
   {
-    File df (rules.get ("db") + "/data");
+    File df (rules.get ("temp.db") + "/data");
     df += file;
     out << "                 " << describeFile (df) << "\n";
   }
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ int CmdDiagnostics (Rules& rules, Database& database, Extensions& extensions, Lo
   out << "\n";
 
   // Display extensions.
-  Directory extDir (rules.get ("db"));
+  Directory extDir (rules.get ("temp.db"));
   extDir += "extensions";
 
   out << "Extensions\n"
diff --git a/src/commands/CmdExtensions.cpp b/src/commands/CmdExtensions.cpp
index ea96b38c..559e74f3 100644
--- a/src/commands/CmdExtensions.cpp
+++ b/src/commands/CmdExtensions.cpp
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ int CmdExtensions (Rules& rules, Extensions& extensions)
     t.set (row, 1, perms);
   }
 
-  Directory extDir (rules.get ("db"));
+  Directory extDir (rules.get ("temp.db"));
   extDir += "extensions";
 
   std::cout << "\n"
diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index 155cfe91..98e3a1cb 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -126,12 +126,12 @@ void initializeDataAndRules (
   // This value is not written out to disk, as there would be no point. Having
   // located the config file, the 'db' location is already known. This is just
   // for subsequent internal use.
-  rules.set ("db", dbLocation._data);
-  log.write ("debug", std::string ("  rc.db=") + rules.get ("db"));
+  rules.set ("temp.db", dbLocation._data);
+  log.write ("debug", std::string ("  rc.db=") + rules.get ("temp.db"));
 
   // Perhaps some subsequent code would like to know this is a new db and
   // possibly a first run.
-  rules.set ("shiny", (shinyNewDatabase ? 1 : 0));
+  rules.set ("temp.shiny", (shinyNewDatabase ? 1 : 0));
 
   // Initialize the database (no data read), but files are enumerated.
   database.initialize (data._data);
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ void initializeExtensions (
   Extensions& extensions,
   Log& log)
 {
-  Directory extDir (rules.get ("db"));
+  Directory extDir (rules.get ("temp.db"));
   extDir += "extensions";
 
   extensions.initialize (extDir._data);