diff --git a/cmd/frontend/internal/cli/config.go b/cmd/frontend/internal/cli/config.go
index 1cf8274db7e2..f9f9da8d4eb1 100644
--- a/cmd/frontend/internal/cli/config.go
+++ b/cmd/frontend/internal/cli/config.go
@@ -341,9 +341,10 @@ func serviceConnections() conftypes.ServiceConnections {
 		}
 
 		serviceConnectionsVal = conftypes.ServiceConnections{
-			GitServers:           gitServers(),
-			PostgresDSN:          dbutil.PostgresDSN("", username, os.Getenv),
-			CodeIntelPostgresDSN: dbutil.PostgresDSN("codeintel", username, os.Getenv),
+			GitServers:               gitServers(),
+			PostgresDSN:              dbutil.PostgresDSN("", username, os.Getenv),
+			CodeIntelPostgresDSN:     dbutil.PostgresDSN("codeintel", username, os.Getenv),
+			CodeInsightsTimescaleDSN: dbutil.PostgresDSN("codeinsights", username, os.Getenv),
 		}
 
 		// We set this envvar in development to disable the following check
diff --git a/enterprise/internal/insights/insights.go b/enterprise/internal/insights/insights.go
index 05422b7fdf20..b057410eccb8 100644
--- a/enterprise/internal/insights/insights.go
+++ b/enterprise/internal/insights/insights.go
@@ -2,13 +2,48 @@ package insights
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"database/sql"
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
 
 	"github.com/sourcegraph/sourcegraph/cmd/frontend/enterprise"
 	"github.com/sourcegraph/sourcegraph/enterprise/internal/insights/resolvers"
+	"github.com/sourcegraph/sourcegraph/internal/conf"
+	"github.com/sourcegraph/sourcegraph/internal/database/dbconn"
 )
 
 // Init initializes the given enterpriseServices to include the required resolvers for insights.
 func Init(ctx context.Context, enterpriseServices *enterprise.Services) error {
+	if !conf.IsDev(conf.DeployType()) {
+		// Code Insights is not yet deployed to non-dev/testing instances. We don't yet have
+		// TimescaleDB in those deployments. https://github.com/sourcegraph/sourcegraph/issues/17218
+		return nil
+	}
+	_, err := initializeCodeInsightsDB()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	enterpriseServices.InsightsResolver = resolvers.New()
 	return nil
 }
+
+// initializeCodeInsightsDB connects to and initializes the Code Insights Timescale DB, running
+// database migrations before returning.
+func initializeCodeInsightsDB() (*sql.DB, error) {
+	timescaleDSN := conf.Get().ServiceConnections.CodeInsightsTimescaleDSN
+	conf.Watch(func() {
+		if newDSN := conf.Get().ServiceConnections.CodeInsightsTimescaleDSN; timescaleDSN != newDSN {
+			log.Fatalf("Detected codeinsights database DSN change, restarting to take effect: %s", newDSN)
+		}
+	})
+
+	db, err := dbconn.New(timescaleDSN, "")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Failed to connect to codeinsights database: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if err := dbconn.MigrateDB(db, dbconn.CodeInsights); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Failed to perform codeinsights database migration: %s", err)
+	}
+	return db, nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/conf/conftypes/conftypes.go b/internal/conf/conftypes/conftypes.go
index 5ffa44a5a02e..d0caad56e11f 100644
--- a/internal/conf/conftypes/conftypes.go
+++ b/internal/conf/conftypes/conftypes.go
@@ -19,6 +19,11 @@ type ServiceConnections struct {
 	// code intel database.
 	// eg: "postgres://sg@pgsql/sourcegraph_codeintel?sslmode=false"
 	CodeIntelPostgresDSN string `json:"codeIntelPostgresDSN"`
+
+	// CodeInsightsTimescaleDSN is the TimescaleDB data source name for the
+	// code insights database.
+	// eg: "postgres://sg@pgsql/sourcegraph_codeintel?sslmode=false"
+	CodeInsightsTimescaleDSN string `json:"codeinsightsTimescaleDSN"`
 }
 
 // RawUnified is the unparsed variant of conf.Unified.