diff --git a/colab/management/initconfig.py b/colab/management/initconfig.py
index 64223eb..b730ced 100644
--- a/colab/management/initconfig.py
+++ b/colab/management/initconfig.py
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ ALLOWED_HOSTS = [
 # SOCIAL_NETWORK_ENABLED = True
 
 ## Database settings
+##
+##     When DEBUG is True colab will create the DB on
+##     the repository root. In case of production settings
+##     (DEBUG False) the DB settings must be set.
+##
 # DATABASES = {{
 #     'default': {{
 #         'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
diff --git a/colab/settings.py b/colab/settings.py
index 7bc3b8b..937487e 100644
--- a/colab/settings.py
+++ b/colab/settings.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/ref/settings/
 """
 
 BROKER_URL = 'amqp://guest:guest@localhost:5672/'
+
 # Build paths inside the project like this: os.path.join(BASE_DIR, ...)
 import os
 BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(__file__)
@@ -172,10 +173,11 @@ HAYSTACK_CONNECTIONS = {
     }
 }
 
+DEFAULT_DATABASE = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'colab.sqlite3')
 DATABASES = {
     'default': {
         'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
-        'NAME': os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'colab.sqlite3'),
+        'NAME': DEFAULT_DATABASE,
     }
 }
 
@@ -252,12 +254,12 @@ REVPROXY_ADD_REMOTE_USER = True
 # Tastypie settings
 TASTYPIE_DEFAULT_FORMATS = ['json', ]
 
-from .utils.conf import load_colab_apps, load_py_settings
+from .utils import conf
 
 SOCIAL_NETWORK_ENABLED = locals().get('SOCIAL_NETWORK_ENABLED') or False
 
-locals().update(load_colab_apps())
-locals().update(load_py_settings())
+locals().update(conf.load_colab_apps())
+locals().update(conf.load_py_settings())
 
 COLAB_APPS = locals().get('COLAB_APPS') or {}
 PROXIED_APPS = {}
@@ -297,3 +299,5 @@ STATICFILES_DIRS += [
 TEMPLATE_DIRS += (
     os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'templates'),
 )
+
+conf.validate_database(DATABASES, DEFAULT_DATABASE, DEBUG)
diff --git a/colab/utils/conf.py b/colab/utils/conf.py
index 7f93279..5df2338 100644
--- a/colab/utils/conf.py
+++ b/colab/utils/conf.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import importlib
 import warnings
 
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
+from django.utils.translation import ugettext as _
 
 
 class InaccessibleSettings(ImproperlyConfigured):
@@ -13,6 +14,14 @@ class InaccessibleSettings(ImproperlyConfigured):
     Check if the file exists and if you have read permissions."""
 
 
+class DatabaseUndefined(ImproperlyConfigured):
+    """Default database is not set.
+
+    When DEBUG is set to True a local sqlite database can be used for
+    developement porposes but otherwise the `default` database must
+    be set."""
+
+
 def _load_py_file(py_path, path):
     original_path = sys.path
 
@@ -94,3 +103,11 @@ def load_colab_apps():
                         COLAB_APPS[app_name][key] = value
 
     return {'COLAB_APPS': COLAB_APPS}
+
+
+def validate_database(database_dict, default_db, debug):
+    db_name = database_dict.get('default', {}).get('NAME')
+    if not debug and db_name == default_db:
+        msg = _('Since DEBUG is set to False DATABASE must be set on '
+                'colab settings')
+        raise DatabaseUndefined(msg)
--
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