diff --git a/db/backend_test.go b/db/backend_test.go
index 0f4346f2e..0227eb547 100644
--- a/db/backend_test.go
+++ b/db/backend_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ func cleanupDBDir(dir, name string) {
 	os.RemoveAll(filepath.Join(dir, name) + ".db")
 }
 
-func testBackendGetSetDelete(t *testing.T, backend string) {
+func testBackendGetSetDelete(t *testing.T, backend dbBackendType) {
 	// Default
 	dir, dirname := cmn.Tempdir(fmt.Sprintf("test_backend_%s_", backend))
 	defer dir.Close()
@@ -141,9 +141,9 @@ func TestBackendsNilKeys(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestGoLevelDBBackendStr(t *testing.T) {
+func TestGoLevelDBBackend(t *testing.T) {
 	name := cmn.Fmt("test_%x", cmn.RandStr(12))
-	db := NewDB(name, GoLevelDBBackendStr, "")
+	db := NewDB(name, GoLevelDBBackend, "")
 	defer cleanupDBDir("", name)
 
 	_, ok := db.(*GoLevelDB)
diff --git a/db/c_level_db.go b/db/c_level_db.go
index f1a5a3aef..a59137883 100644
--- a/db/c_level_db.go
+++ b/db/c_level_db.go
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ func init() {
 	dbCreator := func(name string, dir string) (DB, error) {
 		return NewCLevelDB(name, dir)
 	}
-	registerDBCreator(LevelDBBackendStr, dbCreator, true)
-	registerDBCreator(CLevelDBBackendStr, dbCreator, false)
+	registerDBCreator(LevelDBBackend, dbCreator, true)
+	registerDBCreator(CLevelDBBackend, dbCreator, false)
 }
 
 var _ DB = (*CLevelDB)(nil)
diff --git a/db/c_level_db_test.go b/db/c_level_db_test.go
index 89993fbac..34bb72273 100644
--- a/db/c_level_db_test.go
+++ b/db/c_level_db_test.go
@@ -86,9 +86,9 @@ func bytes2Int64(buf []byte) int64 {
 }
 */
 
-func TestCLevelDBBackendStr(t *testing.T) {
+func TestCLevelDBBackend(t *testing.T) {
 	name := cmn.Fmt("test_%x", cmn.RandStr(12))
-	db := NewDB(name, LevelDBBackendStr, "")
+	db := NewDB(name, LevelDBBackend, "")
 	defer cleanupDBDir("", name)
 
 	_, ok := db.(*CLevelDB)
diff --git a/db/common_test.go b/db/common_test.go
index 2a5d01818..1a529949f 100644
--- a/db/common_test.go
+++ b/db/common_test.go
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ func checkValuePanics(t *testing.T, itr Iterator) {
 	assert.Panics(t, func() { itr.Key() }, "checkValuePanics expected panic but didn't")
 }
 
-func newTempDB(t *testing.T, backend string) (db DB) {
+func newTempDB(t *testing.T, backend dbBackendType) (db DB) {
 	dir, dirname := cmn.Tempdir("test_go_iterator")
 	db = NewDB("testdb", backend, dirname)
 	dir.Close()
diff --git a/db/db.go b/db/db.go
index 25ff93ec5..1428c9c42 100644
--- a/db/db.go
+++ b/db/db.go
@@ -5,19 +5,21 @@ import "fmt"
 //----------------------------------------
 // Main entry
 
+type dbBackendType string
+
 const (
-	LevelDBBackendStr   = "leveldb" // legacy, defaults to goleveldb unless +gcc
-	CLevelDBBackendStr  = "cleveldb"
-	GoLevelDBBackendStr = "goleveldb"
-	MemDBBackendStr     = "memdb"
-	FSDBBackendStr      = "fsdb" // using the filesystem naively
+	LevelDBBackend   dbBackendType = "leveldb" // legacy, defaults to goleveldb unless +gcc
+	CLevelDBBackend  dbBackendType = "cleveldb"
+	GoLevelDBBackend dbBackendType = "goleveldb"
+	MemDBBackend     dbBackendType = "memDB"
+	FSDBBackend      dbBackendType = "fsdb" // using the filesystem naively
 )
 
 type dbCreator func(name string, dir string) (DB, error)
 
-var backends = map[string]dbCreator{}
+var backends = map[dbBackendType]dbCreator{}
 
-func registerDBCreator(backend string, creator dbCreator, force bool) {
+func registerDBCreator(backend dbBackendType, creator dbCreator, force bool) {
 	_, ok := backends[backend]
 	if !force && ok {
 		return
@@ -25,7 +27,7 @@ func registerDBCreator(backend string, creator dbCreator, force bool) {
 	backends[backend] = creator
 }
 
-func NewDB(name string, backend string, dir string) DB {
+func NewDB(name string, backend dbBackendType, dir string) DB {
 	db, err := backends[backend](name, dir)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("Error initializing DB: %v", err))
diff --git a/db/fsdb.go b/db/fsdb.go
index 45c3231f6..578c1785a 100644
--- a/db/fsdb.go
+++ b/db/fsdb.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ const (
 )
 
 func init() {
-	registerDBCreator(FSDBBackendStr, func(name string, dir string) (DB, error) {
+	registerDBCreator(FSDBBackend, func(name string, dir string) (DB, error) {
 		dbPath := filepath.Join(dir, name+".db")
 		return NewFSDB(dbPath), nil
 	}, false)
diff --git a/db/go_level_db.go b/db/go_level_db.go
index 7d60e060f..9fed329bf 100644
--- a/db/go_level_db.go
+++ b/db/go_level_db.go
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ func init() {
 	dbCreator := func(name string, dir string) (DB, error) {
 		return NewGoLevelDB(name, dir)
 	}
-	registerDBCreator(LevelDBBackendStr, dbCreator, false)
-	registerDBCreator(GoLevelDBBackendStr, dbCreator, false)
+	registerDBCreator(LevelDBBackend, dbCreator, false)
+	registerDBCreator(GoLevelDBBackend, dbCreator, false)
 }
 
 var _ DB = (*GoLevelDB)(nil)
diff --git a/db/mem_db.go b/db/mem_db.go
index 1e3bee5a5..f2c484fa7 100644
--- a/db/mem_db.go
+++ b/db/mem_db.go
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func init() {
-	registerDBCreator(MemDBBackendStr, func(name string, dir string) (DB, error) {
+	registerDBCreator(MemDBBackend, func(name string, dir string) (DB, error) {
 		return NewMemDB(), nil
 	}, false)
 }