diff --git a/app/lib/db.ts b/app/lib/db.ts
index 3407426..23968f1 100644
--- a/app/lib/db.ts
+++ b/app/lib/db.ts
@@ -10,4 +10,16 @@ function databaseUrl(): string {
   return url;
 }
 
-export const sql = postgres(databaseUrl(), { ssl: 'require' });
+/**
+ * SSL mode is configurable via DATABASE_SSL because internal/private Postgres
+ * instances (e.g. Coolify's docker-network Postgres) often don't terminate TLS,
+ * which causes ECONNRESET on connect if ssl is forced to 'require'.
+ * Defaults to 'require' to preserve prior behavior for externally-hosted DBs.
+ */
+function sslMode(): 'require' | false {
+  const mode = process.env['DATABASE_SSL']?.trim().toLowerCase();
+  if (mode === 'disable' || mode === 'false') return false;
+  return 'require';
+}
+
+export const sql = postgres(databaseUrl(), { ssl: sslMode() });
diff --git a/server.ts b/server.ts
index f626f99..1624076 100644
--- a/server.ts
+++ b/server.ts
@@ -22,10 +22,16 @@ const PING_INTERVAL_MS = 30_000;
 const SEEN_THROTTLE_MS = 60_000;
 const WS_PATH = '/api/nodes/ws';
 
+function sslMode(): 'require' | false {
+  const mode = process.env.DATABASE_SSL?.trim().toLowerCase();
+  if (mode === 'disable' || mode === 'false') return false;
+  return 'require';
+}
+
 function createDb() {
   const url = process.env.DATABASE_URL?.trim();
   if (!url) throw new Error('DATABASE_URL is not set');
-  return postgres(url, { ssl: 'require' });
+  return postgres(url, { ssl: sslMode() });
 }
 
 const db = createDb();
diff --git a/tests/lib/db-bootstrap.test.ts b/tests/lib/db-bootstrap.test.ts
index bc61f12..e2f3e57 100644
--- a/tests/lib/db-bootstrap.test.ts
+++ b/tests/lib/db-bootstrap.test.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,17 @@ describe('app/lib/db bootstrap', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  test('disables ssl when DATABASE_SSL=disable (internal/private Postgres)', async () => {
+    process.env.DATABASE_SSL = 'disable';
+    vi.resetModules();
+    await import('@/app/lib/db');
+
+    expect(postgresMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith('postgres://user:pass@localhost:5432/testdb', {
+      ssl: false,
+    });
+    delete process.env.DATABASE_SSL;
+  });
+
   test('throws when DATABASE_URL is missing', async () => {
     delete process.env.DATABASE_URL;
     vi.resetModules();