diff --git a/crates/trigger/src/runtime_config/sqlite.rs b/crates/trigger/src/runtime_config/sqlite.rs
index 6fc7c482e..5163791e9 100644
--- a/crates/trigger/src/runtime_config/sqlite.rs
+++ b/crates/trigger/src/runtime_config/sqlite.rs
@@ -49,24 +49,27 @@ async fn execute_statements(
     if statements.is_empty() {
         return Ok(());
     }
-    let Some(default) = databases.get("default") else {
-        debug_assert!(
-            false,
-            "the 'default' sqlite database should always be available but for some reason was not"
-        );
-        return Ok(());
-    };
 
     for m in statements {
-        if let Some(file) = m.strip_prefix('@') {
+        if let Some(config) = m.strip_prefix('@') {
+            let (file, database) = parse_file_and_label(config)?;
+            let database = databases.get(database).with_context(|| {
+                format!(
+                    "based on the '@{config}' a registered database named '{database}' was expected but not found. The registered databases are '{:?}'", databases.keys()
+                )
+            })?;
             let sql = std::fs::read_to_string(file).with_context(|| {
                 format!("could not read file '{file}' containing sql statements")
             })?;
-            default
+            database
                 .execute_batch(&sql)
                 .await
                 .with_context(|| format!("failed to execute sql from file '{file}'"))?;
         } else {
+            let Some(default) = databases.get("default") else {
+                debug_assert!(false, "the 'default' sqlite database should always be available but for some reason was not");
+                return Ok(());
+            };
             default
                 .query(m, Vec::new())
                 .await
@@ -76,6 +79,19 @@ async fn execute_statements(
     Ok(())
 }
 
+/// Parses a @{file:label} sqlite statement
+fn parse_file_and_label(config: &str) -> anyhow::Result<(&str, &str)> {
+    let config = config.trim();
+    let (file, label) = match config.split_once(':') {
+        Some((_, label)) if label.trim().is_empty() => {
+            anyhow::bail!("database label is empty in the '@{config}' sqlite statement")
+        }
+        Some((file, label)) => (file.trim(), label.trim()),
+        None => (config, "default"),
+    };
+    Ok((file, label))
+}
+
 // Holds deserialized options from a `[sqlite_database.<name>]` runtime config section.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, serde::Deserialize)]
 #[serde(rename_all = "snake_case", tag = "type")]
@@ -202,3 +218,23 @@ impl TriggerHooks for SqlitePersistenceMessageHook {
         Ok(())
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn can_parse_file_and_label() {
+        let config = "file:label";
+        let result = parse_file_and_label(config).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(result, ("file", "label"));
+
+        let config = "file:";
+        let result = parse_file_and_label(config);
+        assert!(result.is_err());
+
+        let config = "file";
+        let result = parse_file_and_label(config).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(result, ("file", "default"));
+    }
+}