diff --git a/internal/storage/db.go b/internal/storage/db.go
index ff82e21..90edc43 100644
--- a/internal/storage/db.go
+++ b/internal/storage/db.go
@@ -2,55 +2,59 @@ package storage
 
 import (
 	"database/sql"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"strings"
 
 	_ "modernc.org/sqlite"
 )
 
-func CreateTables() error {
-	// Requests DB
-	db_r, err := sql.Open("sqlite",
-		"/var/lib/banforge/requests.db?"+
-			"mode=rwc&"+
-			"_pragma=journal_mode(WAL)&"+
-			"_pragma=busy_timeout(30000)&"+
-			"_pragma=synchronous(NORMAL)")
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to open requests db: %w", err)
-	}
-	defer func() {
-		err = db_r.Close()
-		if err != nil {
-			fmt.Println(err)
-		}
-	}()
+const (
+	DBDir     = "/var/lib/banforge/"
+	ReqDBPath = DBDir + "requests.db"
+	banDBPath = DBDir + "bans.db"
+)
 
-	_, err = db_r.Exec(CreateRequestsTable)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create requests table: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	// Bans DB
-	db_b, err := sql.Open("sqlite",
-		"/var/lib/banforge/bans.db?"+
-			"mode=rwc&"+
-			"_pragma=journal_mode(WAL)&"+
-			"_pragma=busy_timeout(30000)&"+
-			"_pragma=synchronous(FULL)")
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to open bans db: %w", err)
-	}
-	defer func() {
-		err = db_b.Close()
-		if err != nil {
-			fmt.Println(err)
-		}
-	}()
-
-	_, err = db_b.Exec(CreateBansTable)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create bans table: %w", err)
-	}
-	fmt.Println("Tables created successfully!")
-	return nil
+var pragmas = map[string]string{
+	`journal_mode`: `wal`,
+	`synchronous`:  `normal`,
+	`busy_timeout`: `30000`,
+	// also consider these
+	// `temp_store`:   `memory`,
+	// `cache_size`:   `1000000000`,
+}
+
+func buildSqliteDsn(path string, pragmas map[string]string) string {
+	pragmastrs := make([]string, len(pragmas))
+	i := 0
+	for k, v := range pragmas {
+		pragmastrs[i] = (fmt.Sprintf(`pragma=%s(%s)`, k, v))
+		i++
+	}
+	return path + "?" + "mode=rwc&" + strings.Join(pragmastrs, "&")
+}
+
+func initDB(dsn, sqlstr string) (err error) {
+	db, err := sql.Open("sqlite", dsn)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to open %q: %w", dsn, err)
+	}
+	defer func() {
+		closeErr := db.Close()
+		if closeErr != nil {
+			err = errors.Join(err, fmt.Errorf("failed to close %q: %w", dsn, closeErr))
+		}
+	}()
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create table: %w", err)
+	}
+	return err
+}
+
+func CreateTables() (err error) {
+	// Requests DB
+	err1 := initDB(buildSqliteDsn(ReqDBPath, pragmas), CreateRequestsTable)
+	err2 := initDB(buildSqliteDsn(banDBPath, pragmas), CreateBansTable)
+
+	return errors.Join(err1, err2)
 }