diff --git a/tailbone/app.py b/tailbone/app.py
index 4d4f435c..6f41a8de 100644
--- a/tailbone/app.py
+++ b/tailbone/app.py
@@ -70,6 +70,10 @@ def make_rattail_config(settings):
     if hasattr(rattail_config, 'tempmon_engine'):
         tailbone.db.TempmonSession.configure(bind=rattail_config.tempmon_engine)
 
+    # maybe set "future" behavior for SQLAlchemy
+    if rattail_config.getbool('rattail.db', 'sqlalchemy_future_mode', usedb=False):
+        tailbone.db.Session.configure(future=True)
+
     # create session wrappers for each "extra" Trainwreck engine
     for key, engine in rattail_config.trainwreck_engines.items():
         if key != 'default':