diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c96bb6c371fa..e129e409c0a4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -60,11 +60,11 @@ writable/session/*
 writable/uploads/*
 !writable/uploads/index.html
 
-writable/data/*
-!writable/data/index.html
-
 writable/debugbar/*
 
+writable/*.db
+writable/*.sqlite
+
 php_errors.log
 
 #-------------------------
diff --git a/system/Database/SQLite3/Connection.php b/system/Database/SQLite3/Connection.php
index 5cef2243ad76..92a06558679c 100644
--- a/system/Database/SQLite3/Connection.php
+++ b/system/Database/SQLite3/Connection.php
@@ -85,11 +85,10 @@ public function connect(bool $persistent = false)
 		}
 		try
 		{
-			$this->database = ($this->database === ':memory:')
-				? $this->database
-				: (strpos($this->database, DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR) === false
-					? WRITEPATH . 'data' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $this->database
-					: $this->database);
+			if ($this->database !== ':memory:' && strpos($this->database, DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR) === false)
+			{
+				$this->database = WRITEPATH . $this->database;
+			}
 
 			return (! $this->password)
 				? new \SQLite3($this->database)
diff --git a/tests/system/Database/Live/SQLite/AlterTableTest.php b/tests/system/Database/Live/SQLite/AlterTableTest.php
index 39196ebcae2c..15ebb43e9faa 100644
--- a/tests/system/Database/Live/SQLite/AlterTableTest.php
+++ b/tests/system/Database/Live/SQLite/AlterTableTest.php
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ public function setUp(): void
 
 		$config = [
 			'DBDriver' => 'SQLite3',
-			'database' => ':memory:',
+			'database' => 'database.db',
 		];
 
 		$this->db    = db_connect($config);
diff --git a/tests/system/Database/Migrations/MigrationRunnerTest.php b/tests/system/Database/Migrations/MigrationRunnerTest.php
index 5f4a65212de0..95dd5fc34c27 100644
--- a/tests/system/Database/Migrations/MigrationRunnerTest.php
+++ b/tests/system/Database/Migrations/MigrationRunnerTest.php
@@ -37,7 +37,10 @@ public function testLoadsDefaultDatabaseWhenNoneSpecified()
 		$db = $this->getPrivateProperty($runner, 'db');
 
 		$this->assertInstanceOf(BaseConnection::class, $db);
-		$this->assertEquals($dbConfig->tests['database'], $this->getPrivateProperty($db, 'database'));
+		$this->assertEquals(
+			($dbConfig->tests['DBDriver'] === 'SQLite3' ? WRITEPATH : '' ) . $dbConfig->tests['database'],
+			$this->getPrivateProperty($db, 'database')
+		);
 		$this->assertEquals($dbConfig->tests['DBDriver'], $this->getPrivateProperty($db, 'DBDriver'));
 	}
 
diff --git a/tests/travis/Database.php b/tests/travis/Database.php
index d497ffb4dace..943e70bc51b1 100644
--- a/tests/travis/Database.php
+++ b/tests/travis/Database.php
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
 	   'hostname' => 'localhost',
 	   'username' => '',
 	   'password' => '',
-	   'database' => ':memory:',
+	   'database' => 'database.db',
 	   'DBDriver' => 'SQLite3',
 	   'DBPrefix' => 'db_',
 	   'pConnect' => false,
diff --git a/user_guide_src/source/changelogs/v4.0.4.rst b/user_guide_src/source/changelogs/v4.0.4.rst
index c7598516b684..cad8828bbdd0 100644
--- a/user_guide_src/source/changelogs/v4.0.4.rst
+++ b/user_guide_src/source/changelogs/v4.0.4.rst
@@ -5,11 +5,11 @@ Release Date: Unreleased
 
 **4.0.4 release of CodeIgniter4**
 
-The location for the SQLite3 database has changed and by default will be now located in a ``writable/data`` folder instead of the ``public`` folder.
+The location for the SQLite3 database has changed and by default will be now located in a ``writable`` folder instead of the ``public`` folder.
 
 Enhancements:
 
 
 Bugs Fixed:
 
-- Fixed location for the SQLite3 database which by default will be now located in a ``writable/data`` folder instead of the ``public`` folder.
+- Fixed location for the SQLite3 database which by default will be now located in a ``writable`` folder instead of the ``public`` folder.
diff --git a/user_guide_src/source/database/configuration.rst b/user_guide_src/source/database/configuration.rst
index 1f43139a8580..7edff86b7ccf 100644
--- a/user_guide_src/source/database/configuration.rst
+++ b/user_guide_src/source/database/configuration.rst
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ prototype::
 The name of the class property is the connection name, and can be used
 while connecting to specify a group name.
 
-.. note:: The default location of the SQLite3 database is in the ``writable/data/`` folder.
+.. note:: The default location of the SQLite3 database is in the ``writable`` folder.
 	If you want to change the location, you must set the full path to the new folder.
 
 Some database drivers (such as PDO, PostgreSQL, Oracle, ODBC) might
diff --git a/writable/data/index.html b/writable/data/index.html
deleted file mode 100644
index b702fbc3967b..000000000000
--- a/writable/data/index.html
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-<!DOCTYPE html>
-<html>
-<head>
-	<title>403 Forbidden</title>
-</head>
-<body>
-
-<p>Directory access is forbidden.</p>
-
-</body>
-</html>