diff --git a/backend/src/lib/outbound/postgres.rs b/backend/src/lib/outbound/postgres.rs
index 1b7ef7b..71cc8dd 100644
--- a/backend/src/lib/outbound/postgres.rs
+++ b/backend/src/lib/outbound/postgres.rs
@@ -75,11 +75,20 @@ impl Postgres {
             .await
             .context("Failed to connect to the PostgreSQL database")?;
 
-        // If this fails it's probably because the database already exists, which is exactly what
-        // we want
-        let _ = sqlx::query(&format!("CREATE DATABASE {}", config.database_name))
-            .execute(&mut connection)
-            .await;
+        match sqlx::query("SELECT datname FROM pg_database WHERE datname = $1")
+            .bind(&config.database_name)
+            .fetch_one(&mut connection)
+            .await
+        {
+            Ok(_) => (),
+            Err(sqlx::Error::RowNotFound) => {
+                sqlx::query(&format!("CREATE DATABASE {}", config.database_name))
+                    .execute(&mut connection)
+                    .await?;
+            }
+            Err(e) => return Err(e.into()),
+        };
+
         connection.close().await?;
 
         let pool = PgPoolOptions::new()