diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/db/couch/connections.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/db/couch/connections.ts
index 5c7d7ec81d..9692b095a8 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/db/couch/connections.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/db/couch/connections.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import env from "../../environment"
 
-export const getCouchInfo = (connection?: string) => {
+export const getCouchInfo = (connection?: string | null) => {
   // clean out any auth credentials
   const urlInfo = getUrlInfo(connection)
   let username
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ export const getCouchInfo = (connection?: string) => {
   }
 }
 
-export const getUrlInfo = (url = env.COUCH_DB_URL) => {
+export const getUrlInfo = (url: string | null = env.COUCH_DB_URL) => {
   let cleanUrl, username, password, host
   if (url) {
     // Ensure the URL starts with a protocol
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/db/tests/pouch.spec.js b/packages/backend-core/src/db/tests/pouch.spec.ts
similarity index 98%
rename from packages/backend-core/src/db/tests/pouch.spec.js
rename to packages/backend-core/src/db/tests/pouch.spec.ts
index f0abc82240..21632cff88 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/db/tests/pouch.spec.js
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/db/tests/pouch.spec.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 require("../../../tests")
-const getUrlInfo = require("../couch").getUrlInfo
+
+import { getUrlInfo } from "../couch"
 
 describe("pouch", () => {
   describe("Couch DB URL parsing", () => {
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/tests/core/users/users.spec.js b/packages/backend-core/tests/core/users/users.spec.ts
similarity index 67%
rename from packages/backend-core/tests/core/users/users.spec.js
rename to packages/backend-core/tests/core/users/users.spec.ts
index dde0d87fb7..b14f553266 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/tests/core/users/users.spec.js
+++ b/packages/backend-core/tests/core/users/users.spec.ts
@@ -1,17 +1,17 @@
-const _ = require("lodash/fp")
-const { structures } = require("../../../tests")
+import { range } from "lodash/fp"
+import { structures } from "../.."
 
 jest.mock("../../../src/context")
 jest.mock("../../../src/db")
 
-const context = require("../../../src/context")
-const db = require("../../../src/db")
+import * as context from "../../../src/context"
+import * as db from "../../../src/db"
 
-const { getCreatorCount } = require("../../../src/users/users")
+import { getCreatorCount } from "../../../src/users/users"
 
 describe("Users", () => {
-  let getGlobalDBMock
-  let paginationMock
+  let getGlobalDBMock: jest.SpyInstance
+  let paginationMock: jest.SpyInstance
 
   beforeEach(() => {
     jest.resetAllMocks()
@@ -22,11 +22,10 @@ describe("Users", () => {
     jest.spyOn(db, "getGlobalUserParams")
   })
 
-  it("Retrieves the number of creators", async () => {
-    const getUsers = (offset, limit, creators = false) => {
-      const range = _.range(offset, limit)
+  it("retrieves the number of creators", async () => {
+    const getUsers = (offset: number, limit: number, creators = false) => {
       const opts = creators ? { builder: { global: true } } : undefined
-      return range.map(() => structures.users.user(opts))
+      return range(offset, limit).map(() => structures.users.user(opts))
     }
     const page1Data = getUsers(0, 8)
     const page2Data = getUsers(8, 12, true)