diff --git a/cmd/goose/main.go b/cmd/goose/main.go
index 1bd6fd2..bd9469b 100644
--- a/cmd/goose/main.go
+++ b/cmd/goose/main.go
@@ -55,24 +55,13 @@ func main() {
 
 	driver, dbstring, command := args[0], args[1], args[2]
 
-	if err := goose.SetDialect(driver); err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	switch driver {
-	case "redshift":
-		driver = "postgres"
-	case "tidb":
-		driver = "mysql"
-	}
-
 	switch dbstring {
 	case "":
 		log.Fatalf("-dbstring=%q not supported\n", dbstring)
 	default:
 	}
 
-	db, err := createDBWithDriver(driver, dbstring)
+	db, err := goose.OpenDBWithDriver(driver, dbstring)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("-dbstring=%q: %v\n", dbstring, err)
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/goose/sql.go b/db.go
similarity index 66%
rename from cmd/goose/sql.go
rename to db.go
index f5c80a5..c4aeec5 100644
--- a/cmd/goose/sql.go
+++ b/db.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-package main
+package goose
 
 import (
 	"database/sql"
@@ -20,7 +20,20 @@ func normalizeMySQLDSN(dsn string) (string, error) {
 	return config.FormatDSN(), nil
 }
 
-func createDBWithDriver(driver string, dbstring string) (*sql.DB, error) {
+// OpenDBWithDriver creates a connection a database, and modifies goose
+// internals to be compatible with the supplied driver by calling SetDialect.
+func OpenDBWithDriver(driver string, dbstring string) (*sql.DB, error) {
+	if err := SetDialect(driver); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	switch driver {
+	case "redshift":
+		driver = "postgres"
+	case "tidb":
+		driver = "mysql"
+	}
+
 	switch driver {
 	case "postgres", "sqlite3":
 		return sql.Open(driver, dbstring)
diff --git a/cmd/goose/sql_test.go b/db_test.go
similarity index 99%
rename from cmd/goose/sql_test.go
rename to db_test.go
index 74a8b92..dfc52b5 100644
--- a/cmd/goose/sql_test.go
+++ b/db_test.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-package main
+package goose
 
 import (
 	"testing"
diff --git a/examples/go-migrations/main.go b/examples/go-migrations/main.go
index be158d8..ce1f26b 100644
--- a/examples/go-migrations/main.go
+++ b/examples/go-migrations/main.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package main
 
 import (
-	"database/sql"
 	"flag"
 	"log"
 	"os"
@@ -55,28 +54,15 @@ func main() {
 
 	driver, dbstring, command := args[0], args[1], args[2]
 
-	switch driver {
-	case "postgres", "mysql", "sqlite3", "redshift":
-		if err := goose.SetDialect(driver); err != nil {
-			log.Fatal(err)
-		}
-	default:
-		log.Fatalf("%q driver not supported\n", driver)
-	}
-
 	switch dbstring {
 	case "":
 		log.Fatalf("-dbstring=%q not supported\n", dbstring)
 	default:
 	}
 
-	if driver == "redshift" {
-		driver = "postgres"
-	}
-
-	db, err := sql.Open(driver, dbstring)
+	db, err := goose.OpenDBWithDriver(driver, dbstring)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("-dbstring=%q: %v\n", dbstring, err)
+		log.Fatalf("goose run: %v\n", err)
 	}
 
 	arguments := []string{}