diff --git a/roles/matrix-postgres/defaults/main.yml b/roles/matrix-postgres/defaults/main.yml
index b5c6f6a88..6b824a234 100644
--- a/roles/matrix-postgres/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/roles/matrix-postgres/defaults/main.yml
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ matrix_postgres_docker_image_force_pull: "{{ matrix_postgres_docker_image_to_use
 # A list of extra arguments to pass to the container
 matrix_postgres_container_extra_arguments: []
 
+# A list of extra arguments to pass to the postgres process
+# e.g. "-c 'max_connections=200'"
+matrix_postgres_process_extra_arguments: []
+
 # Controls whether the matrix-postgres container exposes a port (tcp/5432 in the
 # container) that can be used to access the database from outside the container (e.g. with psql)
 #
diff --git a/roles/matrix-postgres/templates/systemd/matrix-postgres.service.j2 b/roles/matrix-postgres/templates/systemd/matrix-postgres.service.j2
index 8e6392c1a..f1c751a6a 100644
--- a/roles/matrix-postgres/templates/systemd/matrix-postgres.service.j2
+++ b/roles/matrix-postgres/templates/systemd/matrix-postgres.service.j2
@@ -26,7 +26,11 @@ ExecStart={{ matrix_host_command_docker }} run --rm --name matrix-postgres \
 			{% for arg in matrix_postgres_container_extra_arguments %}
 			{{ arg }} \
 			{% endfor %}
-			{{ matrix_postgres_docker_image_to_use }}
+			{{ matrix_postgres_docker_image_to_use }} \
+			postgres \
+			{% for arg in matrix_postgres_process_extra_arguments %}
+			{{ arg }} \
+			{% endfor %}
 
 ExecStop=-{{ matrix_host_command_docker }} stop matrix-postgres
 ExecStop=-{{ matrix_host_command_docker }} rm matrix-postgres