diff --git a/terraform/database.tf b/terraform/database.tf
index 6326de0bd..82b81acf8 100644
--- a/terraform/database.tf
+++ b/terraform/database.tf
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ resource "random_string" "db-name" {
 resource "google_sql_database_instance" "db-inst" {
   project          = var.project
   region           = var.region
-  database_version = "POSTGRES_12"
+  database_version = var.database_version
   name             = var.database_name
 
   settings {
diff --git a/terraform/variables.tf b/terraform/variables.tf
index b00e27ff1..c46cd27c9 100644
--- a/terraform/variables.tf
+++ b/terraform/variables.tf
@@ -35,6 +35,13 @@ variable "database_tier" {
   description = "Size of the Cloud SQL tier. Set to db-custom-1-3840 or a smaller instance for local dev."
 }
 
+variable "database_version" {
+  type    = string
+  default = "POSTGRES_12"
+
+  description = "Version of the database to use. Must be at least 12 or higher."
+}
+
 variable "database_disk_size_gb" {
   type    = number
   default = 256