diff --git a/ci/testnet-manager.sh b/ci/testnet-manager.sh
index fba1aff035..02ab4f32c8 100755
--- a/ci/testnet-manager.sh
+++ b/ci/testnet-manager.sh
@@ -177,11 +177,11 @@ for val in "${GCE_LOW_QUOTA_ZONES[@]}"; do
   GCE_LOW_QUOTA_ZONE_ARGS+=("-z $val")
 done
 
-if [[ -n $TESTNET_DB_HOST ]]; then
-  SOLANA_METRICS_PARTIAL_CONFIG="host=$TESTNET_DB_HOST,$SOLANA_METRICS_PARTIAL_CONFIG"
+if [[ -z $TESTNET_DB_HOST ]]; then
+  TESTNET_DB_HOST="https://metrics.solana.com:8086"
 fi
 
-export SOLANA_METRICS_CONFIG="db=$TESTNET,$SOLANA_METRICS_PARTIAL_CONFIG"
+export SOLANA_METRICS_CONFIG="db=$TESTNET,host=$TESTNET_DB_HOST,$SOLANA_METRICS_PARTIAL_CONFIG"
 echo "SOLANA_METRICS_CONFIG: $SOLANA_METRICS_CONFIG"
 source scripts/configure-metrics.sh