diff --git a/server/util.go b/server/util.go
index 98e82be44b03..cea58e223ad4 100644
--- a/server/util.go
+++ b/server/util.go
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ func GetAppDBBackend(opts types.AppOptions) dbm.BackendType {
 		rv = sdk.DBBackend
 	}
 	if len(rv) == 0 {
-		rv = cast.ToString(opts.Get("db-backend"))
+		rv = cast.ToString(opts.Get("db_backend"))
 	}
 	if len(rv) != 0 {
 		return dbm.BackendType(rv)