diff --git a/ankisyncd.conf b/ankisyncd.conf
index b0c53eb..0515f79 100644
--- a/ankisyncd.conf
+++ b/ankisyncd.conf
@@ -5,3 +5,5 @@ data_root = ./collections
 base_url = /sync/
 base_media_url = /msync/
 auth_db_path = ./auth.db
+# optional, for session persistence between restarts
+session_db_path = ./session.db
diff --git a/ankisyncd/sync_app.py b/ankisyncd/sync_app.py
index 956dfe2..b68a2f3 100644
--- a/ankisyncd/sync_app.py
+++ b/ankisyncd/sync_app.py
@@ -372,8 +372,17 @@ class SyncApp(object):
         self.hook_download = None
         self.hook_upload = None
 
-        self.session_manager = SimpleSessionManager()
-        self.user_manager = SimpleUserManager()
+        if config.has_option("sync_app", "session_db_path"):
+            self.session_manager = SqliteSessionManager(config.get("sync_app", "session_db_path"))
+        else:
+            self.session_manager = SimpleSessionManager()
+
+        if config.has_option("sync_app", "auth_db_path"):
+            self.user_manager = SqliteUserManager(config.get("sync_app", "auth_db_path"))
+        else:
+            print "WARNING: auth_db_path not set, ankisyncd will accept any password"
+            self.user_manager = SimpleUserManager()
+
         self.collection_manager = getCollectionManager()
 
         # make sure the base_url has a trailing slash