diff --git a/lib/mbtiles.js b/lib/mbtiles.js
index 596ddb4..1919b1e 100644
--- a/lib/mbtiles.js
+++ b/lib/mbtiles.js
@@ -1,16 +1,12 @@
-var _ = require('underscore'),
-    fs = require('fs'),
-    Step = require('step'),
-    crypto = require('crypto'),
-    zlib = require('zlib'),
-    path = require('path'),
-    url = require('url'),
-    qs = require('querystring'),
-    Buffer = require('buffer').Buffer,
-    sm = new (require('sphericalmercator')),
-    sqlite3 = require('sqlite3');
-
-if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'test') sqlite3.verbose();
+var fs = require('fs');
+var crypto = require('crypto');
+var zlib = require('zlib');
+var path = require('path');
+var url = require('url');
+var qs = require('querystring');
+var Buffer = require('buffer').Buffer;
+var sm = new (require('sphericalmercator'));
+var sqlite3 = require('sqlite3');
 
 function noop(err) {
     if (err) throw err;
@@ -53,16 +49,14 @@ function MBTiles(uri, callback) {
     this.setMaxListeners(0);
     this.filename = uri.pathname;
     this._batchSize = +uri.query.batch;
-    Step(function() {
-        mbtiles._db = new sqlite3.Database(mbtiles.filename, this);
-    }, function(err) {
-        if (err) throw err;
-        fs.stat(mbtiles.filename, this);
-    }, function(err, stat) {
+    mbtiles._db = new sqlite3.Database(mbtiles.filename, function(err) {
         if (err) return callback(err);
-        mbtiles._stat = stat;
-        mbtiles.open = true;
-        callback(null, mbtiles);
+        fs.stat(mbtiles.filename, function(err, stat) {
+            if (err) return callback(err);
+            mbtiles._stat = stat;
+            mbtiles.open = true;
+            callback(null, mbtiles);
+        });
     });
 
     return undefined;
@@ -103,7 +97,7 @@ MBTiles.prototype._exists = function(table, callback) {
     if (typeof callback !== 'function') callback = noop;
 
     if (this._schema) {
-        return callback(null, _(this._schema).include(table));
+        return callback(null, this._schema.indexOf(table) !== -1);
     } else {
         this._db.all(
             'SELECT name FROM sqlite_master WHERE type IN (?, ?)',
@@ -111,7 +105,7 @@ MBTiles.prototype._exists = function(table, callback) {
             'view',
             function(err, rows) {
                 if (err) return callback(err);
-                this._schema = _(rows).pluck('name');
+                this._schema = rows.map(function(r) { return r.name });
                 this._exists(table, callback);
             }.bind(this)
         );
@@ -159,24 +153,22 @@ MBTiles.prototype.getTile = function(z, x, y, callback) {
     // Flip Y coordinate because MBTiles files are TMS.
     y = (1 << z) - 1 - y;
 
+    var sql = 'SELECT tile_data FROM tiles WHERE zoom_level = ? AND tile_column = ? AND tile_row = ?';
     var mbtiles = this;
-    this._db.get('SELECT tile_data FROM tiles WHERE ' +
-        'zoom_level = ? AND tile_column = ? AND tile_row = ?',
-        z, x, y,
-        function(err, row) {
-            if ((!err && !row) || (err && err.errno == 1)) {
-                return callback(new Error('Tile does not exist'));
-            } else if (err) {
-                return callback(err);
-            } else {
-                var options = {
-                    'Content-Type': MBTiles.utils.getMimeType(row.tile_data),
-                    'Last-Modified': new Date(mbtiles._stat.mtime).toUTCString(),
-                    'ETag': mbtiles._stat.size + '-' + Number(mbtiles._stat.mtime)
-                };
-                return callback(null, row.tile_data, options);
-            }
-        });
+    this._db.get(sql, z, x, y, function(err, row) {
+        if ((!err && !row) || (err && err.errno == 1)) {
+            return callback(new Error('Tile does not exist'));
+        } else if (err) {
+            return callback(err);
+        } else {
+            var options = {
+                'Content-Type': MBTiles.utils.getMimeType(row.tile_data),
+                'Last-Modified': new Date(mbtiles._stat.mtime).toUTCString(),
+                'ETag': mbtiles._stat.size + '-' + Number(mbtiles._stat.mtime)
+            };
+            return callback(null, row.tile_data, options);
+        }
+    });
 };
 
 // Select a grid and its data from an mbtiles database. Scheme is XYZ.
@@ -192,190 +184,38 @@ MBTiles.prototype.getGrid = function(z, x, y, callback) {
     // Flip Y coordinate because MBTiles files are TMS.
     y = (1 << z) - 1 - y;
 
-    var that = this;
-    Step(
-        function() {
-            that._db.get('SELECT grid FROM grids WHERE ' +
-                'zoom_level = ? AND tile_column = ? AND tile_row = ?',
-                z, x, y,
-                this.parallel()
-            );
-            that._db.all('SELECT key_name, key_json FROM grid_data WHERE ' +
-                'zoom_level = ? AND tile_column = ? AND tile_row = ?',
-                z, x, y,
-                this.parallel()
-            );
-        },
-        function(err, row, rows) {
-            if ((!row || !row.grid) || (err && err.errno == 1)) {
-                return callback(new Error('Grid does not exist'));
-            }
-            if (err) return callback(err);
+    var sqlgrid = 'SELECT grid FROM grids WHERE zoom_level = ? AND tile_column = ? AND tile_row = ?';
+    var sqljson = 'SELECT key_name, key_json FROM grid_data WHERE zoom_level = ? AND tile_column = ? AND tile_row = ?';
 
-            zlib.inflate(!Buffer.isBuffer(row.grid)
-                ? new Buffer(row.grid, 'binary')
-                : row.grid,
-                function(err,buffer) {
-                    if (err) return callback(new Error('Grid is invalid:' + err.message));
-                    try {
-                        var data = rows.reduce(function(memo, r) {
-                            memo[r.key_name] = JSON.parse(r.key_json);
-                            return memo;
-                        }, {});
-                        var result = JSON.parse(buffer.toString());
-                    } catch(err) {
-                        return callback(new Error('Grid is invalid:' + err.message));
-                    }
-                    var options = {
-                        'Content-Type': 'text/javascript',
-                        'Last-Modified': new Date(that._stat.mtime).toUTCString(),
-                        'ETag': that._stat.size + '-' + Number(that._stat.mtime)
-                    };
-                    callback(null, _(result).extend({data:data}), options);
+    var mbtiles = this;
+    mbtiles._db.get(sqlgrid, z, x, y, function(err, row) {
+        if (err && err.errno !== 1) return callback(err);
+        if (!row || !row.grid || err) return callback(new Error('Grid does not exist'));
+        zlib.inflate(!Buffer.isBuffer(row.grid) ? new Buffer(row.grid, 'binary') : row.grid, function(err, buffer) {
+            if (err) return callback(new Error('Grid is invalid:' + err.message));
+            try { var grid = JSON.parse(buffer); }
+            catch(err) { return callback(new Error('Grid is invalid:' + err.message)) };
+            mbtiles._db.all(sqljson, z, x, y, function(err, rows) {
+                if (err) return callback(err);
+                grid.data = grid.data || {};
+                for (var i = 0; i < rows.length; i++) {
+                    try { grid.data[rows[i].key_name] = JSON.parse(rows[i].key_json); }
+                    catch(err) { return callback(new Error('Grid is invalid:' + err.message)) };
+                }
+                callback(null, grid, {
+                    'Content-Type': 'text/javascript',
+                    'Last-Modified': new Date(mbtiles._stat.mtime).toUTCString(),
+                    'ETag': mbtiles._stat.size + '-' + Number(mbtiles._stat.mtime)
                 });
-        }
-    );
-};
-
-// Select a metadata value from the database.
-//
-// - @param {Function} callback
-MBTiles.prototype._metadata = function(key, callback) {
-    if (typeof callback !== 'function') callback = noop;
-
-    this._db.get('SELECT value FROM metadata WHERE name = ?',
-        key,
-        function(err, row) {
-            // If the metadata table or the requested field is missing return
-            // null and allow the caller handle it.
-            if (!row || (err && err.errno == 1)) return callback(null, null);
-            else if (err) return callback(err);
-            else return callback(null, row.value);
+            });
         });
-};
-
-
-MBTiles.prototype._close = function(callback) {
-    this._db.close(callback);
+    });
 };
 
 MBTiles.prototype.close = function(callback) {
-    this._close(callback);
+    this._db.close(callback);
 };
 
-MBTiles.prototype._getInfo = function(callback) {
-    var mbtiles = this;
-    var info = {};
-    info.scheme = 'tms';
-    info.basename = path.basename(mbtiles.filename);
-    info.id = path.basename(mbtiles.filename, path.extname(mbtiles.filename));
-    info.filesize = mbtiles._stat.size;
-    Step(function() {
-        var end = this;
-        mbtiles._db.all('SELECT name, value FROM metadata', function(err, rows) {
-            if (rows) for (var i = 0; i < rows.length; i++) {
-                info[rows[i].name] = rows[i].value;
-            }
-            end(err);
-        });
-    },
-    // Determine min/max zoom if needed
-    function(err) {
-        if (err && err.errno !== 1) return callback(err);
-        if (info.maxzoom !== undefined
-            && info.minzoom !== undefined) return this();
-
-        var step = this;
-        var zoomquery = mbtiles._db.prepare('SELECT zoom_level FROM tiles ' +
-                                        'WHERE zoom_level = ? LIMIT 1', function(err) {
-            if (err) {
-                if (err.errno === 1) step();
-                else throw new Error(err);
-            } else {
-                var group = step.group();
-                for (var i = 0; i < 30; i++) {
-                    zoomquery.get(i, group());
-                }
-                zoomquery.finalize();
-            }
-        });
-    },
-    function(err, rows) {
-        if (err) return callback(err);
-        if (rows) {
-            var zooms = _(rows).chain()
-                .reject(_.isUndefined)
-                .pluck('zoom_level')
-                .value();
-            info.minzoom = zooms.shift();
-            info.maxzoom = zooms.length ? zooms.pop() : info.minzoom;
-        }
-        this();
-    },
-    // Determine bounds if needed
-    function(err) {
-        if (err) return callback(err);
-        if (info.bounds) return this();
-        if (typeof info.minzoom === 'undefined') return this();
-
-        var next = this;
-        Step(
-            function() {
-                mbtiles._db.get(
-                    'SELECT MAX(tile_column) AS maxx, ' +
-                    'MIN(tile_column) AS minx, MAX(tile_row) AS maxy, ' +
-                    'MIN(tile_row) AS miny FROM tiles ' +
-                    'WHERE zoom_level = ?',
-                    info.minzoom,
-                    this
-                );
-            },
-            function(err, row) {
-                if (!err && row) {
-                    // @TODO this breaks a little at zoom level zero
-                    var urTile = sm.bbox(row.maxx, row.maxy, info.minzoom, true);
-                    var llTile = sm.bbox(row.minx, row.miny, info.minzoom, true);
-                    // @TODO bounds are limited to "sensible" values here
-                    // as sometimes tilesets are rendered with "negative"
-                    // and/or other extremity tiles. Revisit this if there
-                    // are actual use cases for out-of-bounds bounds.
-                    info.bounds = [
-                        llTile[0] > -180 ? llTile[0] : -180,
-                        llTile[1] > -90 ? llTile[1] : -90,
-                        urTile[2] < 180 ? urTile[2] : 180,
-                        urTile[3] < 90 ? urTile[3] : 90
-                    ].join(',');
-                }
-                next();
-            }
-        );
-    },
-    // Return info
-    function(err) {
-        if (err) return callback(err);
-        var range = parseInt(info.maxzoom, 10) - parseInt(info.minzoom, 10);
-        info.minzoom = parseInt(info.minzoom, 10);
-        if (isNaN(info.minzoom) || typeof info.minzoom !== 'number') delete info.minzoom;
-        info.maxzoom = parseInt(info.maxzoom, 10);
-        if (isNaN(info.maxzoom) || typeof info.maxzoom !== 'number') delete info.maxzoom;
-
-        info.bounds = _((info.bounds || '').split(',')).map(parseFloat);
-        if (info.bounds.length !== 4 || info.bounds[0] === null) delete info.bounds;
-
-        if (info.center) info.center = _((info.center).split(',')).map(parseFloat);
-        if ((!info.center || info.center.length !== 3) && info.bounds) info.center = [
-            (info.bounds[2] - info.bounds[0]) / 2 + info.bounds[0],
-            (info.bounds[3] - info.bounds[1]) / 2 + info.bounds[1],
-            (range <= 1) ? info.maxzoom : Math.floor(range * 0.5) + info.minzoom
-        ];
-        if (info.center && (info.center.length !== 3 || info.center[0] === null || isNaN(info.center[2]))) {
-            delete info.center;
-        }
-
-        return callback(null, info);
-    });
-}
-
 // Obtain metadata from the database. Performing fallback queries if certain
 // keys(like `bounds`, `minzoom`, `maxzoom`) have not been provided.
 //
@@ -384,11 +224,101 @@ MBTiles.prototype.getInfo = function(callback) {
     if (typeof callback !== 'function') throw new Error('Callback needed');
     if (!this.open) return callback(new Error('MBTiles not yet loaded'));
     if (this._info) return callback(null, this._info);
+
     var mbtiles = this;
-    mbtiles._getInfo(function(err, info) {
-        mbtiles._info = info;
-        return callback(err, info);
+    var info = {};
+    info.scheme = 'tms';
+    info.basename = path.basename(mbtiles.filename);
+    info.id = path.basename(mbtiles.filename, path.extname(mbtiles.filename));
+    info.filesize = mbtiles._stat.size;
+    mbtiles._db.all('SELECT name, value FROM metadata', function(err, rows) {
+        if (err && err.errno !== 1) return callback(err);
+        if (rows) rows.forEach(function(row) {
+            switch (row.name) {
+            case 'minzoom':
+            case 'maxzoom':
+                info[row.name] = parseInt(row.value, 10);
+                break;
+            case 'center':
+            case 'bounds':
+                info[row.name] = row.value.split(',').map(parseFloat);
+                break;
+            default:
+                info[row.name] = row.value;
+                break;
+            }
+        });
+        ensureZooms(info, function(err, info) {
+            if (err) return callback(err);
+            ensureBounds(info, function(err, info) {
+                if (err) return callback(err);
+                ensureCenter(info, function(err, info) {
+                    if (err) return callback(err);
+                    mbtiles._info = info;
+                    return callback(null, info);
+                });
+            });
+        });
     });
+    function ensureZooms(info, callback) {
+        if ('minzoom' in info && 'maxzoom' in info) return callback(null, info);
+        var remaining = 30;
+        var zooms = [];
+        var query = mbtiles._db.prepare('SELECT zoom_level FROM tiles WHERE zoom_level = ? LIMIT 1', function(err) {
+            if (err) return callback(err.errno === 1 ? null : err, info);
+            for (var i = 0; i < remaining; i++) query.get(i, function(err, row) {
+                if (err) return (remaining = 0) && callback(err);
+                if (row) zooms.push(row.zoom_level);
+                if (--remaining === 0) {
+                    if (!zooms.length) return callback(null, info);
+                    zooms.sort(function(a,b) { return a < b ? -1 : 1 });
+                    info.minzoom = zooms[0];
+                    info.maxzoom = zooms.pop();
+                    return callback(null, info);
+                }
+            });
+            query.finalize();
+        });
+    };
+    function ensureBounds(info, callback) {
+        if ('bounds' in info) return callback(null, info);
+        if (!('minzoom' in info)) return callback(null, info);
+        mbtiles._db.get(
+            'SELECT MAX(tile_column) AS maxx, ' +
+            'MIN(tile_column) AS minx, MAX(tile_row) AS maxy, ' +
+            'MIN(tile_row) AS miny FROM tiles ' +
+            'WHERE zoom_level = ?',
+            info.minzoom,
+            function(err, row) {
+                if (err) return callback(err);
+                if (!row) return callback(null, info);
+
+                // @TODO this breaks a little at zoom level zero
+                var urTile = sm.bbox(row.maxx, row.maxy, info.minzoom, true);
+                var llTile = sm.bbox(row.minx, row.miny, info.minzoom, true);
+                // @TODO bounds are limited to "sensible" values here
+                // as sometimes tilesets are rendered with "negative"
+                // and/or other extremity tiles. Revisit this if there
+                // are actual use cases for out-of-bounds bounds.
+                info.bounds = [
+                    llTile[0] > -180 ? llTile[0] : -180,
+                    llTile[1] > -90 ? llTile[1] : -90,
+                    urTile[2] < 180 ? urTile[2] : 180,
+                    urTile[3] < 90 ? urTile[3] : 90
+                ].join(',');
+                return callback(null, info);
+            });
+    };
+    function ensureCenter(info, callback) {
+        if ('center' in info) return callback(null, info);
+        if (!('bounds' in info) || !('minzoom' in info) || !('maxzoom' in info)) return callback(null, info);
+        info.center = [
+            (info.bounds[2] - info.bounds[0]) / 2 + info.bounds[0],
+            (info.bounds[3] - info.bounds[1]) / 2 + info.bounds[1],
+            Math.floor((info.maxzoom-info.minzoom)*0.5) + info.minzoom
+        ];
+        return callback(null, info);
+    };
 };
 
 // Puts the MBTiles tilestore into write mode.
@@ -400,21 +330,14 @@ MBTiles.prototype.startWriting = function(callback) {
 
     var mbtiles = this;
     mbtiles._clearCaches();
-    Step(function() {
-        mbtiles._setup(this);
-    }, function(err) {
-        if (err) throw err;
+    mbtiles._setup(function(err) {
+        if (err) return callback(err);
+        if (mbtiles._isWritable) return callback();
+
         // Sets the synchronous flag to OFF for (much) faster inserts.
         // See http://www.sqlite3.org/pragma.html#pragma_synchronous
-        if (!mbtiles._isWritable) {
-            mbtiles._isWritable = 1;
-            mbtiles._db.run('PRAGMA synchronous=OFF', this);
-        } else {
-            mbtiles._isWritable++;
-            this();
-        }
-    }, function(err) {
-        return callback(err);
+        mbtiles._isWritable = 1;
+        mbtiles._db.run('PRAGMA synchronous=OFF', callback);
     });
 };
 
@@ -444,7 +367,6 @@ MBTiles.prototype._commit = function(callback) {
             images.finalize();
         }
 
-
         if (Object.keys(mbtiles._gridCache)) {
             // Insert grid_utfgrid table.
             var grids = mbtiles._db.prepare('REPLACE INTO grid_utfgrid (grid_id, grid_utfgrid) VALUES (?, ?)');
@@ -454,7 +376,6 @@ MBTiles.prototype._commit = function(callback) {
             grids.finalize();
         }
 
-
         if (Object.keys(mbtiles._keyCache)) {
             // Insert grid_key.
             var keys = mbtiles._db.prepare('INSERT OR IGNORE INTO grid_key (grid_id, key_name) VALUES (?, ?)');
@@ -466,7 +387,6 @@ MBTiles.prototype._commit = function(callback) {
             keys.finalize();
         }
 
-
         if (Object.keys(mbtiles._dataCache)) {
             // Insert keymap table.
             var keymap = mbtiles._db.prepare('REPLACE INTO keymap (key_name, key_json) VALUES (?, ?)');
@@ -520,14 +440,13 @@ MBTiles.prototype.stopWriting = function(callback) {
     if (!this.open) return callback(new Error('MBTiles not yet loaded'));
 
     var mbtiles = this;
-    if (this._isWritable) this._isWritable--;
-    this._commit(function(err) {
+    mbtiles._commit(function(err) {
         if (err) return callback(err);
-        if (!mbtiles._isWritable) {
-            mbtiles._db.run('PRAGMA synchronous=NORMAL', callback);
-        } else {
-            return callback(null);
-        }
+        mbtiles._db.run('PRAGMA synchronous=NORMAL', function(err) {
+            if (err) return callback(err);
+            mbtiles._isWritable = false;
+            return callback();
+        });
     });
 };
 
@@ -542,7 +461,6 @@ MBTiles.prototype.putTile = function(z, x, y, data, callback) {
     if (typeof callback !== 'function') throw new Error('Callback needed');
     if (!this.open) return callback(new Error('MBTiles not yet loaded'));
     if (!this._isWritable) return callback(new Error('MBTiles not in write mode'));
-
     if (!Buffer.isBuffer(data)) return callback(new Error('Image needs to be a Buffer'));
 
     // Flip Y coordinate because MBTiles files are TMS.
@@ -597,24 +515,26 @@ MBTiles.prototype.putGrid = function(z, x, y, data, callback) {
     this._mapCache[coords].grid_id = id;
 
     var mbtiles = this;
-    Step(function() {
-        if (mbtiles._gridCache[id]) return this();
-        else zlib.deflate(new Buffer(json, 'utf8'), this);
-    }, function(err, buffer) {
-        if (err) throw err;
-        if (mbtiles._gridCache[id]) return this();
+
+    if (mbtiles._gridCache[id]) return callback(null);
+
+    zlib.deflate(new Buffer(json, 'utf8'), function(err, buffer) {
+        if (err) return callback(err);
         // grid_utfgrid table.
         mbtiles._gridCache[id] = buffer;
         // grid_key table.
         mbtiles._keyCache[id] = Object.keys(data.data || {});
         // keymap table.
-        _(mbtiles._dataCache).extend(data.data || {});
-        this();
-    }, function(err) {
-        if (err) return callback(err);
+        if (data.data) Object.keys(data.data).reduce(function(memo, key) {
+            memo[key] = data.data[key];
+            return memo;
+        }, mbtiles._dataCache);
         // Only commit when we can insert at least batchSize rows.
-        if (++this._pending >= this._batchSize) return this._commit(callback);
-        else return callback(null);
+        if (++mbtiles._pending >= mbtiles._batchSize) {
+            mbtiles._commit(callback);
+        } else {
+            callback(null);
+        }
     });
 };
 
@@ -623,23 +543,18 @@ MBTiles.prototype.putInfo = function(data, callback) {
     if (!this.open) return callback(new Error('MBTiles not yet loaded'));
     if (!this._isWritable) return callback(new Error('MBTiles not in write mode'));
 
-    // Valid keys.
-    var keys = ['name', 'type', 'description', 'version', 'formatter', 'template',
-        'bounds', 'center', 'minzoom', 'maxzoom', 'legend', 'attribution'];
-
     var stmt = this._db.prepare('REPLACE INTO metadata (name, value) VALUES (?, ?)');
     stmt.on('error', callback);
     for (var key in data) {
-        if (keys.indexOf(key) !== -1) stmt.run(key, String(data[key]));
+        stmt.run(key, String(data[key]));
     }
 
     var mbtiles = this;
     stmt.finalize(function(err) {
         if (err) return callback(err);
-        mbtiles._getInfo(function(err, info) {
-            if (err) return callback(err);
-            mbtiles._info = info;
-            if (callback) callback(null);
+        delete mbtiles._info;
+        mbtiles.getInfo(function(err, info) {
+            return callback(err, null);
         });
     });
 };
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 6bc4138..ba2f369 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -29,8 +29,6 @@
         "Konstantin Käfer <kkaefer>"
     ],
     "dependencies": {
-        "underscore": "~1.3.3",
-        "step": "~0.0.5",
         "optimist": "~0.3.1",
         "sqlite3": "~2.1.1",
         "sphericalmercator": "~1.0.1"
diff --git a/test/info.test.js b/test/info.test.js
index 8e8f061..c88c7fa 100644
--- a/test/info.test.js
+++ b/test/info.test.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-process.env.NODE_ENV = 'test';
+require('sqlite3').verbose();
 
 var fs = require('fs');
 var MBTiles = require('..');
diff --git a/test/list.test.js b/test/list.test.js
index 0b2382b..92fa1c8 100644
--- a/test/list.test.js
+++ b/test/list.test.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-process.env.NODE_ENV = 'test';
+require('sqlite3').verbose();
 
 var fs = require('fs');
 var MBTiles = require('..');
diff --git a/test/read.test.js b/test/read.test.js
index 73920f7..ce0bf55 100644
--- a/test/read.test.js
+++ b/test/read.test.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-process.env.NODE_ENV = 'test';
+require('sqlite3').verbose();
 
 var fs = require('fs');
 var MBTiles = require('..');
diff --git a/test/write.test.js b/test/write.test.js
index 22634b8..bfb1239 100644
--- a/test/write.test.js
+++ b/test/write.test.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-process.env.NODE_ENV = 'test';
+require('sqlite3').verbose();
 
 var fs = require('fs');
 var assert = require('assert');
diff --git a/test/write_grids.test.js b/test/write_grids.test.js
index 7ebded4..5584ce7 100644
--- a/test/write_grids.test.js
+++ b/test/write_grids.test.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-process.env.NODE_ENV = 'test';
+require('sqlite3').verbose();
 
 var fs = require('fs');
 var assert = require('assert');