diff --git a/.env.template b/.env.template
index ecc63919..1146dd9f 100644
--- a/.env.template
+++ b/.env.template
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ TIMEZONE=Europe/Berlin
 
 # add only a database password if you want to run with the default postgres, otherwise change settings accordingly
 DB_ENGINE=django.db.backends.postgresql
+# DB_OPTIONS= {}
 POSTGRES_HOST=db_recipes
 POSTGRES_PORT=5432
 POSTGRES_USER=djangouser
diff --git a/recipes/settings.py b/recipes/settings.py
index bf38c532..229040d6 100644
--- a/recipes/settings.py
+++ b/recipes/settings.py
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ WSGI_APPLICATION = 'recipes.wsgi.application'
 DATABASES = {
     'default': {
         'ENGINE': os.getenv('DB_ENGINE') if os.getenv('DB_ENGINE') else 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
+        'OPTIONS': ast.literal_eval(os.getenv('DB_OPTIONS')) if os.getenv('DB_OPTIONS') else {},
         'HOST': os.getenv('POSTGRES_HOST'),
         'PORT': os.getenv('POSTGRES_PORT'),
         'USER': os.getenv('POSTGRES_USER'),