diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ff38fa90..b643d7da 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ dist/
 # Development 
 .notes
 .*keys.db
+*.db-shm
+*.db-wal
 .*wallet.sqlite3
 *models.json
 .cashu
diff --git a/routstr/core/db.py b/routstr/core/db.py
index 9f886791..6bc3bd90 100644
--- a/routstr/core/db.py
+++ b/routstr/core/db.py
@@ -79,6 +79,8 @@ async def balances_for_mint_and_unit(
 async def init_db() -> None:
     """Initializes the database and creates tables if they don't exist."""
     async with engine.begin() as conn:
+        if DATABASE_URL.startswith("sqlite"):
+            await conn.exec_driver_sql("PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL")
         await conn.run_sync(SQLModel.metadata.create_all)