diff --git a/module/backend.nix b/module/backend.nix
index 33b6112..1f5aa6f 100644
--- a/module/backend.nix
+++ b/module/backend.nix
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
       SENTRY_DSN = cfg.sentryDSN;
       "hibernate.connection.url" = "jdbc:postgresql://${cfg.postgresDBHost}:${toString cfg.postgresDBPort}/${cfg.postgresDBName}";
       "hibernate.connection.driver_class" = "org.postgresql.Driver";
-      "hibernate.dialect" = "org.hibernate.dialect.PostgreSQLDialect";
+      "hibernate.dialect" = cfg.databaseDialect;
       "hibernate.connection.username" = "${cfg.postgresDBUsername}";
       "hibernate.connection.password" =
         if cfg.postgresDBPasswordFile == null
diff --git a/module/default.nix b/module/default.nix
index d1b22fc..ad6e6a5 100644
--- a/module/default.nix
+++ b/module/default.nix
@@ -109,6 +109,11 @@ in {
       description = "Password file to use for postgres, loaded at runtime";
     };
 
+    databaseDialect = mkOption {
+      type = types.str;
+      default = "org.hibernate.dialect.CockroachDialect";
+    };
+
     proxyIPv4Only = mkOption {
       type = types.bool;
       default = false;