diff --git a/db.go b/db.go
index 1b777b4..9aca982 100644
--- a/db.go
+++ b/db.go
@@ -18,22 +18,15 @@ const (
 	cardBucket   string = "card"
 )
 
-// openDatabase opens the database, at a given path, for reading and writing. If the file does not exist it will be created.
-// For linux, the default location of the database file is $XDG_DATA_HOME/pelican/pelican.db. If the XDG_DATA_HOME environment
-// variable is not set then it will default to $HOME/.local/share/pelican/pelican.db.
-// For all other operating systems the default location is $HOME/.pelican/pelican.db.
-func openDatabase(path string) (*bolt.DB, error) {
-	opts := bolt.Options{
-		Timeout: 1 * time.Second,
-	}
+func mkDataDir(dir string) error {
+	return os.MkdirAll(dir, 0700)
+}
 
+// TODO: Needs unit testing and documentation
+func dbPath(path string) (string, error) {
 	if len(path) > 0 {
-		db, err := bolt.Open(path, 0600, &opts)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to open database at %s, %w", path, err)
-		}
-
-		return db, nil
+		filepath.Dir(path)
+		return path, mkDataDir(filepath.Dir(path))
 	}
 
 	dbFilename := "pelican.db"
@@ -55,11 +48,24 @@ func openDatabase(path string) (*bolt.DB, error) {
 	}
 
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(dataDir, 0700); err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to make directory %s, %w", dataDir, err)
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("unable to make directory %s, %w", dataDir, err)
 	}
 
 	path = filepath.Join(dataDir, dbFilename)
 
+	return path, mkDataDir(dataDir)
+
+}
+
+// openDatabase opens the database, at a given path, for reading and writing. If the file does not exist it will be created.
+// For linux, the default location of the database file is $XDG_DATA_HOME/pelican/pelican.db. If the XDG_DATA_HOME environment
+// variable is not set then it will default to $HOME/.local/share/pelican/pelican.db.
+// For all other operating systems the default location is $HOME/.pelican/pelican.db.
+func openDatabase(path string) (*bolt.DB, error) {
+	opts := bolt.Options{
+		Timeout: 1 * time.Second,
+	}
+
 	db, err := bolt.Open(path, 0600, &opts)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to open database at %s, %w", path, err)
diff --git a/db_test.go b/db_test.go
index 00dd1b9..db12cf1 100644
--- a/db_test.go
+++ b/db_test.go
@@ -3,12 +3,62 @@ package main
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"reflect"
+	"runtime"
 	"testing"
 
 	bolt "go.etcd.io/bbolt"
 )
 
+func TestDbCustomPath(t *testing.T) {
+	cwd, err := os.Getwd()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("An error occurred whilst getting the current directory, %s", err)
+	}
+
+	tempDataDir := filepath.Join(cwd, "test/temp_data_dir")
+	defer os.RemoveAll(tempDataDir)
+
+	path := filepath.Join(tempDataDir + "/test.db")
+
+	got, err := dbPath(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("An error occurred whilst executing `dbPath`, %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if got != path {
+		t.Errorf("Got unexpected database path: want %s, got %s", path, got)
+	} else {
+		t.Logf("Got expected database path: got %s", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// TODO: Finish testing
+func TestDbDefaultPath(t *testing.T) {
+	var wantPath string
+
+	cwd, err := os.Getwd()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("An error occurred whilst getting the current directory, %s", err)
+	}
+
+	testXdgDataHome := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s/%s/%s", cwd, "test", ".local", "data")
+	defer os.RemoveAll(testXdgDataHome)
+
+	if err := os.Setenv("XDG_DATA_HOME", testXdgDataHome); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("An error occurred whilst setting the XDG_DATA_HOME environment variable, %s", err)
+	}
+
+	goos := runtime.GOOS
+	switch goos {
+	case "linux":
+		wantPath = filepath.Join(os.Getenv("XDG_DATA_HOME"), "pelican", "pelican.db")
+	default:
+		wantPath = filepath.Join(os.Getenv("HOME"), ".pelican", "pelican.db")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestEnsureBuckets(t *testing.T) {
 	var db *bolt.DB
 	var err error