diff --git a/app/Providers/AppServiceProvider.php b/app/Providers/AppServiceProvider.php
index 51a707915..186f85170 100644
--- a/app/Providers/AppServiceProvider.php
+++ b/app/Providers/AppServiceProvider.php
@@ -150,9 +150,10 @@ class AppServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
         $db_type = config()->get('database.default');
 
         if ($db_type == 'sqlite') {
-            $db_file = database_path(env('DB_DATABASE', 'app.sqlite'));
+            $db_file = config()->get('database.connections.sqlite.database');
             Log::debug('SQLite Database Path: ' . $db_file);
-            if (! is_file($db_file)) {
+            // Do not create a file for the in-memory database identifier.
+            if ($db_file !== ':memory:' && ! is_file($db_file)) {
                 touch($db_file);
             }
         }
diff --git a/config/database.php b/config/database.php
index 028c6bc86..5a21e148a 100644
--- a/config/database.php
+++ b/config/database.php
@@ -7,7 +7,11 @@ return [
     'connections' => [
         'sqlite' => [
             'driver' => 'sqlite',
-            'database' => database_path(env('DB_DATABASE', 'app.sqlite')), // Make sure to use the correct path
+            // Use the correct path, but let the special in-memory identifier
+            // pass through untouched so tests can run against ':memory:'.
+            'database' => env('DB_DATABASE', 'app.sqlite') === ':memory:'
+                ? ':memory:'
+                : database_path(env('DB_DATABASE', 'app.sqlite')),
             'prefix' => '',
             'foreign_key_constraints' => env('DB_FOREIGN_KEYS', true), // Enable foreign key constraints
         ],
diff --git a/phpunit.xml b/phpunit.xml
index 909feb8dc..348ed5931 100644
--- a/phpunit.xml
+++ b/phpunit.xml
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@
     <env name="APP_ENV" value="testing"/>
     <env name="BCRYPT_ROUNDS" value="4"/>
     <env name="CACHE_STORE" value="array"/>
-    <!-- <env name="DB_CONNECTION" value="sqlite"/> -->
-    <!-- <env name="DB_DATABASE" value=":memory:"/> -->
+    <env name="DB_CONNECTION" value="sqlite"/>
+    <env name="DB_DATABASE" value=":memory:"/>
     <env name="MAIL_MAILER" value="array"/>
     <env name="PULSE_ENABLED" value="false"/>
     <env name="QUEUE_CONNECTION" value="sync"/>
diff --git a/tests/Feature/ItemExportTest.php b/tests/Feature/ItemExportTest.php
index 51b9d0c33..58c251793 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/ItemExportTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/ItemExportTest.php
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ namespace Tests\Feature;
 use App\Item;
 use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\RefreshDatabase;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Date;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
 use Tests\TestCase;
 
 class ItemExportTest extends TestCase
@@ -39,6 +40,18 @@ class ItemExportTest extends TestCase
 
     public function test_exports_assigned_tag_titles_excluding_the_root_tag(): void
     {
+        // Mirror the root/default dashboard row that production seeds (id 0),
+        // so the item_tag pivot's foreign key to items.id is satisfied on a
+        // fresh in-memory database.
+        DB::table('items')->insert([
+            'id' => 0,
+            'title' => 'app.dashboard',
+            'url' => '',
+            'type' => 1,
+            'user_id' => 0,
+            'pinned' => 0,
+        ]);
+
         $item = Item::factory()
             ->create([
                 'title' => 'Tagged Item',
diff --git a/tests/TestCase.php b/tests/TestCase.php
index fe1ffc2ff..98e540cd8 100644
--- a/tests/TestCase.php
+++ b/tests/TestCase.php
@@ -6,5 +6,42 @@ use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\TestCase as BaseTestCase;
 
 abstract class TestCase extends BaseTestCase
 {
-    //
+    protected function setUp(): void
+    {
+        parent::setUp();
+
+        $this->guardAgainstRealDatabase();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Refuse to run the test suite against anything other than an
+     * in-memory SQLite database.
+     *
+     * The suite uses RefreshDatabase (migrate:fresh), which would wipe
+     * whatever database it is pointed at. The only supported test
+     * configuration for this repo is sqlite + ':memory:'. Any other
+     * connection (a real sqlite file, mysql, pgsql, ...) is rejected so
+     * we can never destroy real data.
+     */
+    private function guardAgainstRealDatabase(): void
+    {
+        $default = config('database.default');
+        $driver = config("database.connections.{$default}.driver");
+        $database = config("database.connections.{$default}.database");
+
+        if ($driver === 'sqlite' && $database === ':memory:') {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        throw new \RuntimeException(sprintf(
+            'Refusing to run tests: the default database connection (%s) is '
+            . 'driver "%s" pointing at "%s". Tests only run against an '
+            . 'in-memory SQLite database (driver "sqlite", database ":memory:") '
+            . 'to avoid wiping real data via RefreshDatabase. Check phpunit.xml '
+            . 'DB_CONNECTION/DB_DATABASE overrides.',
+            $default,
+            $driver,
+            is_scalar($database) ? (string) $database : gettype($database)
+        ));
+    }
 }