diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 73a365b1d4..28a7a43680 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@ Ref: https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+### Improvements
+
+* (cli) [#1615](https://github.com/evmos/ethermint/pull/1615) Support customize db opener in `StartCmd`.
+
 ### State Machine Breaking
 
 * (deps) [#1361](https://github.com/evmos/ethermint/pull/1361) Bump ibc-go to [`v5.0.0`](https://github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/releases/tag/v5.0.0)
diff --git a/cmd/ethermintd/root.go b/cmd/ethermintd/root.go
index 5e17d8de06..c564c89f7a 100644
--- a/cmd/ethermintd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/ethermintd/root.go
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ func NewRootCmd() (*cobra.Command, params.EncodingConfig) {
 	)
 
 	a := appCreator{encodingConfig}
-	server.AddCommands(rootCmd, app.DefaultNodeHome, a.newApp, a.appExport, addModuleInitFlags)
+	server.AddCommands(rootCmd, server.NewDefaultStartOptions(a.newApp, app.DefaultNodeHome), a.appExport, addModuleInitFlags)
 
 	// add keybase, auxiliary RPC, query, and tx child commands
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(
diff --git a/server/start.go b/server/start.go
index a476f5ffb3..4de3c38c57 100644
--- a/server/start.go
+++ b/server/start.go
@@ -52,9 +52,26 @@ import (
 	ethermint "github.com/evmos/ethermint/types"
 )
 
+type DBOpener func(rootDir string, backendType dbm.BackendType) (dbm.DB, error)
+
+// StartOptions defines options that can be customized in `StartCmd`
+type StartOptions struct {
+	AppCreator      types.AppCreator
+	DefaultNodeHome string
+	DBOpener        DBOpener
+}
+
+func NewDefaultStartOptions(appCreator types.AppCreator, defaultNodeHome string) StartOptions {
+	return StartOptions{
+		AppCreator:      appCreator,
+		DefaultNodeHome: defaultNodeHome,
+		DBOpener:        openDB,
+	}
+}
+
 // StartCmd runs the service passed in, either stand-alone or in-process with
 // Tendermint.
-func StartCmd(appCreator types.AppCreator, defaultNodeHome string) *cobra.Command {
+func StartCmd(opts StartOptions) *cobra.Command {
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "start",
 		Short: "Run the full node",
@@ -103,7 +120,7 @@ which accepts a path for the resulting pprof file.
 			withTM, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool(srvflags.WithTendermint)
 			if !withTM {
 				serverCtx.Logger.Info("starting ABCI without Tendermint")
-				return startStandAlone(serverCtx, appCreator)
+				return startStandAlone(serverCtx, opts)
 			}
 
 			serverCtx.Logger.Info("Unlocking keyring")
@@ -120,7 +137,7 @@ which accepts a path for the resulting pprof file.
 			serverCtx.Logger.Info("starting ABCI with Tendermint")
 
 			// amino is needed here for backwards compatibility of REST routes
-			err = startInProcess(serverCtx, clientCtx, appCreator)
+			err = startInProcess(serverCtx, clientCtx, opts)
 			errCode, ok := err.(server.ErrorCode)
 			if !ok {
 				return err
@@ -131,7 +148,7 @@ which accepts a path for the resulting pprof file.
 		},
 	}
 
-	cmd.Flags().String(flags.FlagHome, defaultNodeHome, "The application home directory")
+	cmd.Flags().String(flags.FlagHome, opts.DefaultNodeHome, "The application home directory")
 	cmd.Flags().Bool(srvflags.WithTendermint, true, "Run abci app embedded in-process with tendermint")
 	cmd.Flags().String(srvflags.Address, "tcp://0.0.0.0:26658", "Listen address")
 	cmd.Flags().String(srvflags.Transport, "socket", "Transport protocol: socket, grpc")
@@ -190,12 +207,12 @@ which accepts a path for the resulting pprof file.
 	return cmd
 }
 
-func startStandAlone(ctx *server.Context, appCreator types.AppCreator) error {
+func startStandAlone(ctx *server.Context, opts StartOptions) error {
 	addr := ctx.Viper.GetString(srvflags.Address)
 	transport := ctx.Viper.GetString(srvflags.Transport)
 	home := ctx.Viper.GetString(flags.FlagHome)
 
-	db, err := openDB(home, server.GetAppDBBackend(ctx.Viper))
+	db, err := opts.DBOpener(home, server.GetAppDBBackend(ctx.Viper))
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -211,7 +228,7 @@ func startStandAlone(ctx *server.Context, appCreator types.AppCreator) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	app := appCreator(ctx.Logger, db, traceWriter, ctx.Viper)
+	app := opts.AppCreator(ctx.Logger, db, traceWriter, ctx.Viper)
 
 	svr, err := abciserver.NewServer(addr, transport, app)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -236,7 +253,7 @@ func startStandAlone(ctx *server.Context, appCreator types.AppCreator) error {
 }
 
 // legacyAminoCdc is used for the legacy REST API
-func startInProcess(ctx *server.Context, clientCtx client.Context, appCreator types.AppCreator) (err error) {
+func startInProcess(ctx *server.Context, clientCtx client.Context, opts StartOptions) (err error) {
 	cfg := ctx.Config
 	home := cfg.RootDir
 	logger := ctx.Logger
@@ -266,7 +283,7 @@ func startInProcess(ctx *server.Context, clientCtx client.Context, appCreator ty
 	}
 
 	traceWriterFile := ctx.Viper.GetString(srvflags.TraceStore)
-	db, err := openDB(home, server.GetAppDBBackend(ctx.Viper))
+	db, err := opts.DBOpener(home, server.GetAppDBBackend(ctx.Viper))
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Error("failed to open DB", "error", err.Error())
 		return err
@@ -301,7 +318,7 @@ func startInProcess(ctx *server.Context, clientCtx client.Context, appCreator ty
 		}
 	}
 
-	app := appCreator(ctx.Logger, db, traceWriter, ctx.Viper)
+	app := opts.AppCreator(ctx.Logger, db, traceWriter, ctx.Viper)
 
 	nodeKey, err := p2p.LoadOrGenNodeKey(cfg.NodeKeyFile())
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/server/util.go b/server/util.go
index 1450d0b687..6450ff2300 100644
--- a/server/util.go
+++ b/server/util.go
@@ -23,8 +23,7 @@ import (
 // AddCommands adds server commands
 func AddCommands(
 	rootCmd *cobra.Command,
-	defaultNodeHome string,
-	appCreator types.AppCreator,
+	opts StartOptions,
 	appExport types.AppExporter,
 	addStartFlags types.ModuleInitFlags,
 ) {
@@ -42,15 +41,15 @@ func AddCommands(
 		tmcmd.ResetStateCmd,
 	)
 
-	startCmd := StartCmd(appCreator, defaultNodeHome)
+	startCmd := StartCmd(opts)
 	addStartFlags(startCmd)
 
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(
 		startCmd,
 		tendermintCmd,
-		sdkserver.ExportCmd(appExport, defaultNodeHome),
+		sdkserver.ExportCmd(appExport, opts.DefaultNodeHome),
 		version.NewVersionCommand(),
-		sdkserver.NewRollbackCmd(appCreator, defaultNodeHome),
+		sdkserver.NewRollbackCmd(opts.AppCreator, opts.DefaultNodeHome),
 
 		// custom tx indexer command
 		NewIndexTxCmd(),