diff --git a/JobConfig/common/database_empty.fcl b/JobConfig/common/database_empty.fcl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9189b21f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/JobConfig/common/database_empty.fcl
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+services.DbService.purpose: EMPTY
+services.DbService.version: ""
diff --git a/JobConfig/digitize/Digitize.fcl b/JobConfig/digitize/Digitize.fcl
index 58253ee5..e0fbfb68 100644
--- a/JobConfig/digitize/Digitize.fcl
+++ b/JobConfig/digitize/Digitize.fcl
@@ -33,4 +33,4 @@ physics.end_paths : [ EndPath ]
 #include "Production/JobConfig/digitize/epilog.fcl"
 #include "mu2e-trig-config/core/trigDigiInputsEpilog.fcl"
 # the following is a default placeholder
-#include "Production/Validation/database.fcl"
+#include "Production/JobConfig/common/database_empty.fcl"
diff --git a/JobConfig/reco/Reco.fcl b/JobConfig/reco/Reco.fcl
index 8b895a2b..7f84d4f8 100644
--- a/JobConfig/reco/Reco.fcl
+++ b/JobConfig/reco/Reco.fcl
@@ -15,4 +15,4 @@ physics : {
   analyzers: @local::Reconstruction.analyzers
 }
 # the following is a placeholder
-#include "Production/Validation/database.fcl"
+#include "Production/JobConfig/common/database_empty.fcl"
diff --git a/JobConfig/reco/RecoTrig.fcl b/JobConfig/reco/RecoTrig.fcl
index 7fa9f5dd..20763f4c 100644
--- a/JobConfig/reco/RecoTrig.fcl
+++ b/JobConfig/reco/RecoTrig.fcl
@@ -40,4 +40,4 @@ physics : {
   trigger_paths : [ @sequence::Trig_physMenu.trigger_paths ]
 }
 # the following is a placeholder
-#include "Production/Validation/database.fcl"
+#include "Production/JobConfig/common/database_empty.fcl"
diff --git a/JobConfig/recoMC/Reco.fcl b/JobConfig/recoMC/Reco.fcl
index bae4d31e..eba46b32 100644
--- a/JobConfig/recoMC/Reco.fcl
+++ b/JobConfig/recoMC/Reco.fcl
@@ -16,4 +16,4 @@ physics :
   analyzers: @local::Reconstruction.analyzers
 }
 # the following is a placeholder
-#include "Production/Validation/database.fcl"
+#include "Production/JobConfig/common/database_empty.fcl"
diff --git a/Scripts/LatestDbVersion.sh b/Scripts/LatestDbVersion.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..fe27deaf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Scripts/LatestDbVersion.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Gets the latest database version for the given purpose
+
+purpose="${1:-Sim_best}"
+
+last_line=$(dbTool print-version --purpose "$purpose" | tail -1)
+
+vmaj=$(echo "$last_line" | awk '{print $5}')
+vmin=$(echo "$last_line" | awk '{print $6}')
+echo "v${vmaj}_${vmin}"
diff --git a/Scripts/addDatabase.sh b/Scripts/addDatabase.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..f99cf7db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Scripts/addDatabase.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# creates fcl appending DbService database configuration
+# Usage: ./Production/Scripts/addDatabase.sh <input fcl path> <output fcl path> [db purpose] [db version]
+
+input_path=${1}
+output_path=${2}
+
+if [ -z "$3" ]; then
+    purpose="Sim_best"
+    echo "No purpose provided, using default: $purpose"
+else
+    purpose="$3"
+fi
+if [ -z "$4" ]; then
+    dbversion=$(Production/Scripts/LatestDbVersion.sh "$purpose")
+    echo "No version provided, using latest: $dbversion"
+else
+    dbversion="$4"
+fi
+
+cat "$input_path" > "$output_path"
+cat >> "$output_path" <<EOF
+services.DbService.purpose: $purpose
+services.DbService.version: $dbversion
+services.DbService.verbose: 2
+EOF