diff --git a/lib/qu/backend/base.rb b/lib/qu/backend/base.rb
index 2adeb30..16ec13d 100644
--- a/lib/qu/backend/base.rb
+++ b/lib/qu/backend/base.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 module Qu
   module Backend
     class Base
+      attr_accessor :connection
 
     private
 
diff --git a/lib/qu/backend/mongo.rb b/lib/qu/backend/mongo.rb
index 67bfcd0..ae8def8 100644
--- a/lib/qu/backend/mongo.rb
+++ b/lib/qu/backend/mongo.rb
@@ -3,9 +3,22 @@
 module Qu
   module Backend
     class Mongo < Base
-      def database
-        @database ||= ::Mongo::Connection.new.db('qu')
+      def connection
+        @connection ||= begin
+          uri = URI.parse(ENV['MONGOHQ_URL'].to_s)
+          database = uri.path.empty? ? 'qu' : uri.path[1..-1]
+          options = {}
+          if uri.password
+            options[:auths] = [{
+              'db_name'  => database,
+              'username' => uri.user,
+              'password' => uri.password
+            }]
+          end
+          ::Mongo::Connection.new(uri.host, uri.port, options).db(database)
+        end
       end
+      alias_method :database, :connection
 
       def clear(queue = nil)
         queue ||= queues + ['failed']
diff --git a/lib/qu/backend/redis.rb b/lib/qu/backend/redis.rb
index 51edf43..799ea3c 100644
--- a/lib/qu/backend/redis.rb
+++ b/lib/qu/backend/redis.rb
@@ -10,10 +10,10 @@ def initialize
         self.namespace = :qu
       end
 
-      def redis
-        @redis ||= Qu.connection ||
-          ::Redis::Namespace.new(namespace, :redis => ::Redis.connect(:url => ENV['REDISTOGO_URL']))
+      def connection
+        @connection ||= ::Redis::Namespace.new(namespace, :redis => ::Redis.connect(:url => ENV['REDISTOGO_URL']))
       end
+      alias_method :redis, :connection
 
       def enqueue(klass, *args)
         job = Job.new(SimpleUUID::UUID.new.to_guid, klass, args)
diff --git a/lib/qu/backend/spec.rb b/lib/qu/backend/spec.rb
index 723049a..927e514 100644
--- a/lib/qu/backend/spec.rb
+++ b/lib/qu/backend/spec.rb
@@ -242,4 +242,16 @@ def timeout(count = 0.1, &block)
       subject.workers.first.id.should == worker.id
     end
   end
+
+  describe 'connection=' do
+    it 'should allow setting the connection' do
+      connection = mock('a connection')
+      subject.connection = connection
+      subject.connection.should == connection
+    end
+
+    it 'should provide a default connection' do
+      subject.connection.should_not be_nil
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/qu/backend/mongo_spec.rb b/spec/qu/backend/mongo_spec.rb
index c63e03f..397d7ae 100644
--- a/spec/qu/backend/mongo_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/qu/backend/mongo_spec.rb
@@ -3,4 +3,21 @@
 
 describe Qu::Backend::Mongo do
   it_should_behave_like 'a backend'
+
+  describe 'connection' do
+    it 'should default the qu database' do
+      subject.connection.should be_instance_of(Mongo::DB)
+      subject.connection.name.should == 'qu'
+    end
+
+    it 'should use MONGOHQ_URL from heroku' do
+      Mongo::Connection.any_instance.stub(:connect)
+      ENV['MONGOHQ_URL'] = 'mongodb://user:pw@host:10060/quspec'
+      subject.connection.name.should == 'quspec'
+      # debugger
+      subject.connection.connection.host_to_try.should == ['host', 10060]
+      subject.connection.connection.auths.should == [{'db_name' => 'quspec', 'username' => 'user', 'password' => 'pw'}]
+    end
+
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/qu/backend/redis_spec.rb b/spec/qu/backend/redis_spec.rb
index 3d326a3..ed34575 100644
--- a/spec/qu/backend/redis_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/qu/backend/redis_spec.rb
@@ -27,27 +27,22 @@
   end
 
   describe 'connection' do
-    it 'should use the qu connection' do
-      Qu.connection = mock('a connection')
-      subject.redis.should == Qu.connection
-    end
-
     it 'should create default connection if one not provided' do
-      subject.redis.client.host.should == '127.0.0.1'
-      subject.redis.client.port.should == 6379
-      subject.redis.namespace.should == :qu
+      subject.connection.client.host.should == '127.0.0.1'
+      subject.connection.client.port.should == 6379
+      subject.connection.namespace.should == :qu
     end
 
     it 'should use REDISTOGO_URL from heroku with namespace' do
       ENV['REDISTOGO_URL'] = 'redis://0.0.0.0:9876'
-      subject.redis.client.host.should == '0.0.0.0'
-      subject.redis.client.port.should == 9876
-      subject.redis.namespace.should == :qu
+      subject.connection.client.host.should == '0.0.0.0'
+      subject.connection.client.port.should == 9876
+      subject.connection.namespace.should == :qu
     end
 
     it 'should allow customizing the namespace' do
       subject.namespace = :foobar
-      subject.redis.namespace.should == :foobar
+      subject.connection.namespace.should == :foobar
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 4afd13e..96cbd39 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 
 RSpec.configure do |config|
   config.before do
-    Qu.connection = nil
     Qu.backend = mock('a backend', :reserve => nil, :failed => nil, :completed => nil,
       :register_worker => nil, :unregister_worker => nil)
   end