diff --git a/railties/lib/tasks/databases.rake b/railties/lib/tasks/databases.rake
index 5cb27f1..43e7442 100644
--- a/railties/lib/tasks/databases.rake
+++ b/railties/lib/tasks/databases.rake
@@ -1,7 +1,12 @@
 namespace :db do
+  task :load_config => :rails_env do
+    require 'active_record'
+    ActiveRecord::Base.configurations = Rails::Configuration.new.database_configuration
+  end
+  
   namespace :create do
     desc 'Create all the local databases defined in config/database.yml'
-    task :all => :environment do
+    task :all => :load_config do
       ActiveRecord::Base.configurations.each_value do |config|
         # Skip entries that don't have a database key, such as the first entry here:
         #
@@ -22,10 +27,10 @@ namespace :db do
   end
 
   desc 'Create the database defined in config/database.yml for the current RAILS_ENV'
-  task :create => :environment do
+  task :create => :load_config do
     create_database(ActiveRecord::Base.configurations[RAILS_ENV])
   end
-
+  
   def create_database(config)
     begin
       if config['adapter'] =~ /sqlite/
@@ -76,7 +81,7 @@ namespace :db do
 
   namespace :drop do
     desc 'Drops all the local databases defined in config/database.yml'
-    task :all => :environment do
+    task :all => :load_config do
       ActiveRecord::Base.configurations.each_value do |config|
         # Skip entries that don't have a database key
         next unless config['database']
@@ -87,7 +92,7 @@ namespace :db do
   end
 
   desc 'Drops the database for the current RAILS_ENV'
-  task :drop => :environment do
+  task :drop => :load_config do
     config = ActiveRecord::Base.configurations[RAILS_ENV || 'development']
     begin
       drop_database(config)
diff --git a/railties/lib/tasks/misc.rake b/railties/lib/tasks/misc.rake
index 5c99725..411750b 100644
--- a/railties/lib/tasks/misc.rake
+++ b/railties/lib/tasks/misc.rake
@@ -3,6 +3,12 @@ task :environment do
   require(File.join(RAILS_ROOT, 'config', 'environment'))
 end
 
+task :rails_env do
+  unless defined? RAILS_ENV
+    RAILS_ENV = ENV['RAILS_ENV'] ||= 'development'
+  end
+end
+
 desc 'Generate a crytographically secure secret key. This is typically used to generate a secret for cookie sessions.'
 task :secret do
   puts ActiveSupport::SecureRandom.hex(64)