diff --git a/lib/mail_catcher.rb b/lib/mail_catcher.rb
index cf95c0f..0e665b6 100644
--- a/lib/mail_catcher.rb
+++ b/lib/mail_catcher.rb
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ module MailCatcher extend self
     :daemon => !windows?,
     :browse => false,
     :quit => true,
+    :sqlite_db => ':memory:',
   }
 
   def options
@@ -120,6 +121,10 @@ module MailCatcher extend self
           options[:quit] = false
         end
 
+        parser.on("--sqlite-db PATH", "Set the path to the sqlite database, default in-memory only") do |db|
+          options[:sqlite_db] = db
+        end
+
         if mac?
           parser.on("--[no-]growl") do |growl|
             puts "Growl is no longer supported"
diff --git a/lib/mail_catcher/mail.rb b/lib/mail_catcher/mail.rb
index a163c0b..c078222 100644
--- a/lib/mail_catcher/mail.rb
+++ b/lib/mail_catcher/mail.rb
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ require "sqlite3"
 module MailCatcher::Mail extend self
   def db
     @__db ||= begin
-      SQLite3::Database.new(":memory:", :type_translation => true).tap do |db|
+      SQLite3::Database.new(MailCatcher.options[:sqlite_db], :type_translation => true).tap do |db|
         db.execute(<<-SQL)
-          CREATE TABLE message (
+          CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS message (
             id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY ASC,
             sender TEXT,
             recipients TEXT,
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ module MailCatcher::Mail extend self
           )
         SQL
         db.execute(<<-SQL)
-          CREATE TABLE message_part (
+          CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS message_part (
             id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY ASC,
             message_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
             cid TEXT,