diff --git a/pkg/services/sqlstore/alert_notification.go b/pkg/services/sqlstore/alert_notification.go
index c8c515e81ee..ee780c53a44 100644
--- a/pkg/services/sqlstore/alert_notification.go
+++ b/pkg/services/sqlstore/alert_notification.go
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ func (ss *SQLStore) DeleteAlertNotification(ctx context.Context, cmd *models.Del
 
 func (ss *SQLStore) DeleteAlertNotificationWithUid(ctx context.Context, cmd *models.DeleteAlertNotificationWithUidCommand) error {
 	existingNotification := &models.GetAlertNotificationsWithUidQuery{OrgId: cmd.OrgId, Uid: cmd.Uid}
-	if err := getAlertNotificationWithUidInternal(ctx, existingNotification, newSession(ctx)); err != nil {
+	if err := getAlertNotificationWithUidInternal(ctx, existingNotification, ss.newSession(ctx)); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ func (ss *SQLStore) DeleteAlertNotificationWithUid(ctx context.Context, cmd *mod
 }
 
 func (ss *SQLStore) GetAlertNotifications(ctx context.Context, query *models.GetAlertNotificationsQuery) error {
-	return getAlertNotificationInternal(ctx, query, newSession(ctx))
+	return getAlertNotificationInternal(ctx, query, ss.newSession(ctx))
 }
 
 func (ss *SQLStore) GetAlertNotificationUidWithId(ctx context.Context, query *models.GetAlertNotificationUidQuery) error {
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func (ss *SQLStore) GetAlertNotificationUidWithId(ctx context.Context, query *mo
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	err := getAlertNotificationUidInternal(ctx, query, newSession(ctx))
+	err := getAlertNotificationUidInternal(ctx, query, ss.newSession(ctx))
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ func newAlertNotificationUidCacheKey(orgID, notificationId int64) string {
 }
 
 func (ss *SQLStore) GetAlertNotificationsWithUid(ctx context.Context, query *models.GetAlertNotificationsWithUidQuery) error {
-	return getAlertNotificationWithUidInternal(ctx, query, newSession(ctx))
+	return getAlertNotificationWithUidInternal(ctx, query, ss.newSession(ctx))
 }
 
 func (ss *SQLStore) GetAllAlertNotifications(ctx context.Context, query *models.GetAllAlertNotificationsQuery) error {
@@ -440,7 +440,7 @@ func (ss *SQLStore) UpdateAlertNotification(ctx context.Context, cmd *models.Upd
 func (ss *SQLStore) UpdateAlertNotificationWithUid(ctx context.Context, cmd *models.UpdateAlertNotificationWithUidCommand) error {
 	getAlertNotificationWithUidQuery := &models.GetAlertNotificationsWithUidQuery{OrgId: cmd.OrgId, Uid: cmd.Uid}
 
-	if err := getAlertNotificationWithUidInternal(ctx, getAlertNotificationWithUidQuery, newSession(ctx)); err != nil {
+	if err := getAlertNotificationWithUidInternal(ctx, getAlertNotificationWithUidQuery, ss.newSession(ctx)); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/services/sqlstore/session.go b/pkg/services/sqlstore/session.go
index dfa7c5fbe0a..556b936d4d1 100644
--- a/pkg/services/sqlstore/session.go
+++ b/pkg/services/sqlstore/session.go
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ func (ss *SQLStore) NewSession(ctx context.Context) *DBSession {
 	return sess
 }
 
-func newSession(ctx context.Context) *DBSession {
-	sess := &DBSession{Session: x.NewSession()}
+func (ss *SQLStore) newSession(ctx context.Context) *DBSession {
+	sess := &DBSession{Session: ss.engine.NewSession()}
 	sess.Session = sess.Session.Context(ctx)
 
 	return sess
diff --git a/pkg/services/sqlstore/tags_test.go b/pkg/services/sqlstore/tags_test.go
index f1b986ded62..6fceef6308c 100644
--- a/pkg/services/sqlstore/tags_test.go
+++ b/pkg/services/sqlstore/tags_test.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestSavingTags(t *testing.T) {
-	InitTestDB(t)
+	ss := InitTestDB(t)
 
 	tagPairs := []*models.Tag{
 		{Key: "outage"},
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ func TestSavingTags(t *testing.T) {
 		{Key: "server", Value: "server-1"},
 		{Key: "error"},
 	}
-	tags, err := EnsureTagsExist(newSession(context.Background()), tagPairs)
+	tags, err := EnsureTagsExist(ss.newSession(context.Background()), tagPairs)
 
 	require.Nil(t, err)
 	require.Equal(t, 4, len(tags))