diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9e6dabc..208e78e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -99,6 +99,22 @@ database:
   uriOverride: "postgresql://appuser:apppassword@pg.contoso.eu:5433/qualdb"
 ```
 
+Alternatively, you could create a Kubernetes secret containing the database URI:
+
+```bash
+DB_STRING_B64=$(echo -n 'postgresql://appuser:apppassword@pg.contoso.eu:5433/qualdb' | base64 -w 0)
+kubectl -n vaultwarden create secret generic prod-db-creds --from-literal=secret-uri=$DB_STRING_B64
+```
+
+Then pass the name of the secret and the key to the chart:
+
+```yaml
+database:
+  type: postgresql
+  existingSecret: "prod-db-creds"
+  existingSecretKey: "secret-uri"
+```
+
 Detailed configuration options can be found in the [Database Configuration](#database-configuration) section below.
 
 ### SSL and Ingress
@@ -268,15 +284,19 @@ Detailed configuration options can be found in the [Storage Configuration](#stor
 
 ### Database Configuration
 
-| Name                   | Description                               | Value     |
-| ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | --------- |
-| `database.type`        | Database type, either mysql or postgresql | `default` |
-| `database.host`        | Database hostname or IP address           | `""`      |
-| `database.port`        | Database port                             | `""`      |
-| `database.username`    | Database username                         | `""`      |
-| `database.password`    | Database password                         | `""`      |
-| `database.dbName`      | Database name                             | `""`      |
-| `database.uriOverride` | Manually specify the DB connection string | `""`      |
+| Name                         | Description                                                                                                                              | Value     |
+| ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------- |
+| `database.type`              | Database type, either mysql or postgresql                                                                                                | `default` |
+| `database.host`              | Database hostname or IP address                                                                                                          | `""`      |
+| `database.port`              | Database port                                                                                                                            | `""`      |
+| `database.username`          | Database username                                                                                                                        | `""`      |
+| `database.password`          | Database password                                                                                                                        | `""`      |
+| `database.dbName`            | Database name                                                                                                                            | `""`      |
+| `database.uriOverride`       | Manually specify the DB connection string                                                                                                | `""`      |
+| `database.existingSecret`    | Name of an existing secret containing the database URI                                                                                   | `""`      |
+| `database.existingSecretKey` | Key in the existing secret                                                                                                               | `""`      |
+| `database.connectionRetries` | Number of times to retry the database connection during startup, with 1 second delay between each retry, set to 0 to retry indefinitely. | `15`      |
+| `database.maxConnections`    | Define the size of the connection pool used for connecting to the database.                                                              | `10`      |
 
 ### SMTP Configuration
 
diff --git a/templates/configmap.yaml b/templates/configmap.yaml
index 0a3a36d..d9e3a5f 100644
--- a/templates/configmap.yaml
+++ b/templates/configmap.yaml
@@ -8,13 +8,6 @@ metadata:
     {{- include "vaultwarden.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
 data:
   DOMAIN: {{ .Values.domain | quote }}
-  {{- if ne "default" .Values.database.type }}
-  {{- if .Values.database.uriOverride }}
-  DATABASE_URL: {{ .Values.database.uriOverride }}
-  {{- else }}
-  DATABASE_URL: {{ include "dbString" . | quote }}
-  {{- end }}
-  {{- end }}
   {{- if and .Values.smtp.host .Values.smtp.from | quote }}
   SMTP_HOST: {{ .Values.smtp.host | quote }}
   SMTP_SECURITY: {{ .Values.smtp.security | quote }}
@@ -46,3 +39,5 @@ data:
   LOG_FILE: {{ .Values.logging.logfile | quote }}
   LOG_LEVEL: {{ .Values.logging.loglevel | quote }}
   {{- end }}
+  DB_CONNECTION_RETRIES: {{ .Values.database.connectionRetries }}
+  DATABASE_MAX_CONNS: {{ .Values.database.maxConnections }}
diff --git a/templates/statefulset.yaml b/templates/statefulset.yaml
index 906013a..d9357e2 100644
--- a/templates/statefulset.yaml
+++ b/templates/statefulset.yaml
@@ -74,6 +74,21 @@ spec:
                 secretKeyRef:
                   name: {{ default (include "vaultwarden.fullname" .) .Values.adminToken.existingSecret }}
                   key: {{ default "ADMIN_TOKEN" .Values.adminToken.existingSecretKey }}
+            {{- if ne "default" .Values.database.type }}
+            - name: DATABASE_URL
+              {{- if .Values.database.existingSecret }}
+              valueFrom:
+                secretKeyRef:
+                  name: {{ .Values.database.existingSecret }}
+                  key: {{ .Values.database.existingSecretKey }}
+              {{- else }}
+              {{- if .Values.database.uriOverride }}
+              value: {{ .Values.database.uriOverride }}
+              {{- else }}
+              value: {{ include "dbString" . | quote }}
+              {{- end }}
+              {{- end }}
+            {{- end }}
           ports:
             - containerPort: 8080
               name: http
diff --git a/values.yaml b/values.yaml
index ec1f178..1f080c8 100644
--- a/values.yaml
+++ b/values.yaml
@@ -195,6 +195,18 @@ database:
   ## @param database.uriOverride Manually specify the DB connection string
   ##
   uriOverride: ""
+  ## @param database.existingSecret Name of an existing secret containing the database URI
+  ##
+  existingSecret: ""
+  ## @param database.existingSecretKey Key in the existing secret
+  ##
+  existingSecretKey: ""
+  ## @param database.connectionRetries Number of times to retry the database connection during startup, with 1 second delay between each retry, set to 0 to retry indefinitely.
+  ##
+  connectionRetries: 15
+  ## @param database.maxConnections Define the size of the connection pool used for connecting to the database.
+  ##
+  maxConnections: 10
 
 ## @section SMTP Configuration
 ##