diff --git a/docs/topics/commands.rst b/docs/topics/commands.rst
index d4126d31f..929a03250 100644
--- a/docs/topics/commands.rst
+++ b/docs/topics/commands.rst
@@ -35,8 +35,6 @@ structure by default, similar to this::
            spider1.py
            spider2.py
            ...
-   .scrapy/
-       scrapy.db
 
 The directory where the ``scrapy.cfg`` file resides is known as the *project
 root directory*. That file contains the name of the python module that defines
@@ -45,12 +43,6 @@ the project settings. Here is an example::
     [settings]
     default = myproject.settings
 
-By default, Scrapy projects use a SQLite_ database to store persistent runtime
-data of the project, such as the spider queue (the list of spiders that are
-scheduled to run).  By default, this SQLite database is stored in the *project
-data directory* which, by default, is the ``.scrapy`` directory inside the
-project root directory mentioned above.
-
 Using the ``scrapy`` tool
 =========================
 
@@ -466,5 +458,3 @@ commands for your Scrapy project.
 Example::
 
     COMMANDS_MODULE = 'mybot.commands'
-
-.. _SQLite: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQLite
diff --git a/docs/topics/settings.rst b/docs/topics/settings.rst
index 3c7869d7f..f69442ab8 100644
--- a/docs/topics/settings.rst
+++ b/docs/topics/settings.rst
@@ -883,18 +883,6 @@ Example::
 
     SPIDER_MODULES = ['mybot.spiders_prod', 'mybot.spiders_dev']
 
-.. setting:: SQLITE_DB
-
-SQLITE_DB
----------
-
-Default: ``'scrapy.db'``
-
-The location of the project SQLite database, used for storing the spider queue
-and other persistent data of the project. If a relative path is given, is taken
-relative to the project data dir. For more info see:
-:ref:`topics-project-structure`.
-
 .. setting:: STATS_CLASS
 
 STATS_CLASS
diff --git a/scrapy/settings/default_settings.py b/scrapy/settings/default_settings.py
index de19abc0e..eeff3f501 100644
--- a/scrapy/settings/default_settings.py
+++ b/scrapy/settings/default_settings.py
@@ -214,8 +214,6 @@ SPIDER_MIDDLEWARES_BASE = {
 
 SPIDER_MODULES = []
 
-SQLITE_DB = 'scrapy.db'
-
 STATS_CLASS = 'scrapy.statscol.MemoryStatsCollector'
 STATS_ENABLED = True
 STATS_DUMP = True
diff --git a/scrapyd/environ.py b/scrapyd/environ.py
index 69a6aad48..10711d88f 100644
--- a/scrapyd/environ.py
+++ b/scrapyd/environ.py
@@ -28,8 +28,6 @@ class Environment(object):
         env['SCRAPY_JOB'] = message['_job']
         if project in self.settings:
             env['SCRAPY_SETTINGS_MODULE'] = self.settings[project]
-        dbpath = os.path.join(self.dbs_dir, '%s.db' % project)
-        env['SCRAPY_SQLITE_DB'] = dbpath
         env['SCRAPY_LOG_FILE'] = self._get_file(message, self.logs_dir, 'log')
         env['SCRAPY_FEED_URI'] = self._get_file(message, self.items_dir, 'jl')
         return env
diff --git a/scrapyd/tests/test_environ.py b/scrapyd/tests/test_environ.py
index a90b8c9c3..c88b80fe5 100644
--- a/scrapyd/tests/test_environ.py
+++ b/scrapyd/tests/test_environ.py
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ class EnvironmentTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(env['SCRAPY_SLOT'], '3')
         self.assertEqual(env['SCRAPY_SPIDER'], 'myspider')
         self.assertEqual(env['SCRAPY_JOB'], 'ID')
-        self.assert_(env['SCRAPY_SQLITE_DB'].endswith('mybot.db'))
         self.assert_(env['SCRAPY_LOG_FILE'].endswith(os.path.join('mybot', 'myspider', 'ID.log')))
         self.assert_(env['SCRAPY_FEED_URI'].endswith(os.path.join('mybot', 'myspider', 'ID.jl')))
         self.failIf('SCRAPY_SETTINGS_MODULE' in env)