diff --git a/buffalo/cmd/build/apkg.go b/buffalo/cmd/build/apkg.go
index 822704920..2637ddae9 100644
--- a/buffalo/cmd/build/apkg.go
+++ b/buffalo/cmd/build/apkg.go
@@ -99,7 +99,6 @@ func (b *Builder) buildADatabase() error {
 			return errors.WithStack(err)
 		}
 		if bytes.Contains(bb.Bytes(), []byte("sqlite")) {
-			b.Tags = append(b.Tags, "sqlite")
 			if !b.Static {
 				logrus.Debug("you are building a SQLite application, please consider using the `--static` flag to compile a static binary")
 			}
diff --git a/buffalo/cmd/build/bin.go b/buffalo/cmd/build/bin.go
index 5eedddae3..60b5384ef 100644
--- a/buffalo/cmd/build/bin.go
+++ b/buffalo/cmd/build/bin.go
@@ -36,8 +36,9 @@ func (b *Builder) buildBin() error {
 	if b.Debug {
 		buildArgs = append(buildArgs, "-v")
 	}
-	b.Tags = append(b.Tags, b.Environment)
-	buildArgs = append(buildArgs, "-tags", strings.Join(b.Tags, " "))
+
+	tf := b.App.BuildTags(b.Environment, b.Tags...)
+	buildArgs = append(buildArgs, "-tags", tf.String())
 
 	buildArgs = append(buildArgs, "-o", b.Bin)
 
diff --git a/buffalo/cmd/dev.go b/buffalo/cmd/dev.go
index d4fb9b3a9..ef90db260 100644
--- a/buffalo/cmd/dev.go
+++ b/buffalo/cmd/dev.go
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 package cmd
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"context"
-	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -114,13 +112,14 @@ func startDevServer(ctx context.Context) error {
 		return err
 	}
 	c.Debug = devOptions.Debug
-	tags := []string{"-tags", "development"}
-	if b, err := ioutil.ReadFile("database.yml"); err == nil {
-		if bytes.Contains(b, []byte("sqlite")) {
-			tags = append(tags, "sqlite")
-		}
+
+	app := meta.New(".")
+	bt := app.BuildTags("development")
+	var tf []string
+	for _, b := range bt {
+		tf = append(tf, "-tags", b)
 	}
-	c.BuildFlags = append(c.BuildFlags, tags...)
+	c.BuildFlags = append(c.BuildFlags, tf...)
 	r := refresh.NewWithContext(c, ctx)
 	return r.Start()
 }
diff --git a/buffalo/cmd/test.go b/buffalo/cmd/test.go
index a70387ee8..8d2814533 100644
--- a/buffalo/cmd/test.go
+++ b/buffalo/cmd/test.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package cmd
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"io"
-	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -214,11 +213,9 @@ func testPackages(givenArgs []string) ([]string, error) {
 
 func newTestCmd(args []string) *exec.Cmd {
 	cargs := []string{"test", "-p", "1"}
-	if b, err := ioutil.ReadFile("database.yml"); err == nil {
-		if bytes.Contains(b, []byte("sqlite")) {
-			cargs = append(cargs, "-tags", "sqlite")
-		}
-	}
+	app := meta.New(".")
+	tf := "-tags " + app.BuildTags("development").String()
+	cargs = append(cargs, tf)
 	cargs = append(cargs, args...)
 	cmd := exec.Command(envy.Get("GO_BIN", "go"), cargs...)
 	cmd.Stdin = os.Stdin
diff --git a/meta/tags.go b/meta/tags.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..19dcf4c62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/meta/tags.go
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+package meta
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// BuildTags are tags used for building apps
+type BuildTags []string
+
+// String returns the tags in the form of:
+// "foo bar baz" (with the quotes!)
+func (t BuildTags) String() string {
+	return `"` + strings.Join(t, " ") + `"`
+}
+
+// BuildTags combines the passed in env, and any additional tags,
+// with tags that Buffalo decides the build process requires.
+// An example would be adding the "sqlite" build tag if using
+// SQLite3.
+func (a App) BuildTags(env string, tags ...string) BuildTags {
+	tags = append(tags, env)
+	if b, err := ioutil.ReadFile("database.yml"); err == nil {
+		if bytes.Contains(b, []byte("sqlite")) {
+			tags = append(tags, "sqlite")
+		}
+	}
+	return BuildTags(tags)
+}
diff --git a/meta/tags_test.go b/meta/tags_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..87f5042d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/meta/tags_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+package meta
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func Test_BuildTags(t *testing.T) {
+	defer os.Remove("database.yml")
+	app := New(".")
+	t.Run("without database.yml", func(st *testing.T) {
+		r := require.New(st)
+		tags := app.BuildTags("dev")
+		r.Len(tags, 1)
+		r.Equal("dev", tags[0])
+		r.Equal(`"dev"`, tags.String())
+	})
+	t.Run("with database.yml", func(st *testing.T) {
+		t.Run("with sqlite", func(st *testing.T) {
+			r := require.New(st)
+			f, err := os.Create("database.yml")
+			r.NoError(err)
+			_, err = f.WriteString("sqlite")
+			r.NoError(err)
+
+			tags := app.BuildTags("dev")
+			r.Len(tags, 2)
+			r.Equal("dev", tags[0])
+			r.Equal("sqlite", tags[1])
+			r.Equal(`"dev sqlite"`, tags.String())
+		})
+		t.Run("without sqlite", func(st *testing.T) {
+			r := require.New(st)
+			f, err := os.Create("database.yml")
+			r.NoError(err)
+			_, err = f.WriteString("mysql")
+			r.NoError(err)
+
+			tags := app.BuildTags("dev")
+			r.Len(tags, 1)
+			r.Equal("dev", tags[0])
+			r.Equal(`"dev"`, tags.String())
+		})
+	})
+}