diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index 38cc3e94..8f7c8469 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -114,13 +114,13 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions-rs/cargo@v1
         with:
           command: test
-          args: ${{ matrix.cargo_args }} --no-run --all-features  --target ${{ matrix.target }}
+          args: ${{ matrix.cargo_args }} --no-run --all-features --target ${{ matrix.target }}
 
       - name: Build tests with no features
         uses: actions-rs/cargo@v1
         with:
           command: test
-          args: ${{ matrix.cargo_args }} --no-run --no-default-features  --target ${{ matrix.target }}
+          args: ${{ matrix.cargo_args }} --no-run --no-default-features --target ${{ matrix.target }}
 
       - name: Run tests
         if: runner.os != 'Windows'
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 201c1ed4..16b7f3a9 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1807,12 +1807,14 @@ dependencies = [
  "clap 4.2.4",
  "daemonize",
  "dbsp_adapters",
+ "dbsp_pipeline_manager",
  "env_logger",
  "fs_extra",
  "futures",
  "futures-util",
  "log",
  "mime",
+ "once_cell",
  "pg-embed",
  "pretty_assertions",
  "proptest",
diff --git a/crates/pipeline_manager/Cargo.toml b/crates/pipeline_manager/Cargo.toml
index b8832350..a2f31ae7 100644
--- a/crates/pipeline_manager/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/pipeline_manager/Cargo.toml
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ futures = "0.3"
 tokio-postgres = "0.7"
 async-trait = "0.1"
 # Waiting for https://github.com/faokunega/pg-embed/pull/26
-pg-embed = { git = "https://github.com/gz/pg-embed.git", rev = "8906af8" }
+pg-embed = { git = "https://github.com/gz/pg-embed.git", rev = "8906af8", optional = true }
+once_cell = { version = "1.17.1", optional = true }
 
 [target.'cfg(unix)'.dependencies]
 daemonize = { version = "0.4.1" }
@@ -48,3 +49,11 @@ static-files = "0.2.3"
 proptest = "1.0.0"
 proptest-derive = "0.3.0"
 pretty_assertions = "1.3.0"
+# Workaround to enable dev feature during tests: https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo/issues/2911
+dbsp_pipeline_manager = { path = ".", features = ["dev"]}
+
+[package.metadata.cargo-udeps.ignore]
+development = ["dbsp_pipeline_manager"] # false positive from cargo udeps
+
+[features]
+dev = ["dep:pg-embed", "dep:once_cell"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/crates/pipeline_manager/src/config.rs b/crates/pipeline_manager/src/config.rs
index 8a6cbd9b..f258a8d4 100644
--- a/crates/pipeline_manager/src/config.rs
+++ b/crates/pipeline_manager/src/config.rs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ fn default_sql_compiler_home() -> String {
 }
 
 fn default_db_connection_string() -> String {
-    "postgres-embed".to_string()
+    "".to_string()
 }
 
 /// Pipeline manager configuration read from a YAML config file or from command
@@ -228,6 +228,7 @@ impl ManagerConfig {
     }
 
     /// Where Postgres embed stores the database.
+    #[cfg(feature = "dev")]
     pub(crate) fn postgres_embed_data_dir(&self) -> PathBuf {
         Path::new(&self.working_directory).join("data")
     }
diff --git a/crates/pipeline_manager/src/db/mod.rs b/crates/pipeline_manager/src/db/mod.rs
index e939bf30..d2f62fa3 100644
--- a/crates/pipeline_manager/src/db/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/pipeline_manager/src/db/mod.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ use async_trait::async_trait;
 use chrono::{DateTime, NaiveDateTime, Utc};
 use log::{debug, error};
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
-use std::{error::Error as StdError, fmt, fmt::Display, path::PathBuf};
+use std::{error::Error as StdError, fmt, fmt::Display};
 use storage::Storage;
 use tokio_postgres::{Client, NoTls};
 use utoipa::ToSchema;
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ use utoipa::ToSchema;
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod test;
 
+#[cfg(any(test, feature = "dev"))]
 mod pg_setup;
 pub(crate) mod storage;
 
@@ -28,10 +29,14 @@ pub(crate) mod storage;
 /// time, which determines the position of the project in the queue.
 pub(crate) struct ProjectDB {
     conn: Client,
-    #[allow(dead_code)] // We don't have to interact with it, but dropping it stops the DB server.
-    pub pg: Option<pg_embed::postgres::PgEmbed>,
 }
 
+// Used in dev mode for having an embedded Postgres DB live through the lifetime
+// of the program.
+#[cfg(feature = "dev")]
+static PG: once_cell::sync::OnceCell<pg_embed::postgres::PgEmbed> =
+    once_cell::sync::OnceCell::new();
+
 /// Unique project id.
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Ord, PartialOrd, Serialize, Deserialize, ToSchema)]
 #[cfg_attr(test, derive(proptest_derive::Arbitrary))]
@@ -1013,21 +1018,21 @@ impl Storage for ProjectDB {
 
 impl ProjectDB {
     pub(crate) async fn connect(config: &ManagerConfig) -> AnyResult<Self> {
-        let connection_str = &config.database_connection_string();
+        let connection_str = config.database_connection_string();
         let initial_sql = &config.initial_sql;
-        let database_dir = config.postgres_embed_data_dir();
-
-        Self::connect_inner(
-            connection_str,
-            initial_sql,
-            // Remaining settings for postgres-embed only:
-            database_dir,
-            true,
-            // Use a non-standard port for postgres-embed so we don't interfere
-            // with an existing postgres installation
-            Some(8082),
-        )
-        .await
+
+        #[cfg(feature = "dev")]
+        let connection_str = if connection_str.starts_with("postgres-embed") {
+            let database_dir = config.postgres_embed_data_dir();
+            let pg = pg_setup::install(database_dir, true, Some(8082)).await?;
+            let connection_string = pg.db_uri.to_string();
+            let _ = PG.set(pg);
+            connection_string
+        } else {
+            connection_str
+        };
+
+        Self::connect_inner(connection_str.as_str(), initial_sql).await
     }
 
     /// Connect to the project database.
@@ -1041,27 +1046,13 @@ impl ProjectDB {
     /// - `is_persistent`: Whether the embedded postgres database should be
     ///   persistent or removed on shutdown.
     /// - `port`: The port to use for the embedded Postgres database to run on.
-    async fn connect_inner(
-        connection_str: &str,
-        initial_sql: &Option<String>,
-        database_dir: PathBuf,
-        is_persistent: bool,
-        port: Option<u16>,
-    ) -> AnyResult<Self> {
+    async fn connect_inner(connection_str: &str, initial_sql: &Option<String>) -> AnyResult<Self> {
         if !connection_str.starts_with("postgres") {
             panic!("Unsupported connection string {}", connection_str)
         }
 
-        let (pg, connection_str) = if connection_str.starts_with("postgres-embed") {
-            let pg = pg_setup::install(database_dir, is_persistent, port).await?;
-            let connection_string = pg.db_uri.to_string();
-            (Some(pg), connection_string)
-        } else {
-            (None, connection_str.to_string())
-        };
-
         debug!("Opening connection to {:?}", connection_str);
-        let (client, conn) = tokio_postgres::connect(&connection_str, NoTls).await?;
+        let (client, conn) = tokio_postgres::connect(connection_str, NoTls).await?;
 
         // The `tokio_postgres` API requires allocating a thread to `connection`,
         // which will handle datbase I/O and should automatically terminate once
@@ -1171,7 +1162,7 @@ impl ProjectDB {
             }
         }
 
-        Ok(Self { conn: client, pg })
+        Ok(Self { conn: client })
     }
 
     /// Attach connector to the config.
diff --git a/crates/pipeline_manager/src/db/pg_setup.rs b/crates/pipeline_manager/src/db/pg_setup.rs
index 7a629b6b..6c912941 100644
--- a/crates/pipeline_manager/src/db/pg_setup.rs
+++ b/crates/pipeline_manager/src/db/pg_setup.rs
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ use pg_embed::pg_fetch::{PgFetchSettings, PG_V15};
 use pg_embed::postgres::{PgEmbed, PgSettings};
 use std::path::PathBuf;
 
-/// Install and start an embedded postgres DB instance. This only runs if the
-/// manager is started with postgres-embedded.
+/// Install and start an embedded postgres DB instance. This only runs if
+/// the manager is started with postgres-embedded.
 ///
 /// # Arguments
 /// - `database_dir` - Path to the directory where the database files will be
diff --git a/crates/pipeline_manager/src/db/test.rs b/crates/pipeline_manager/src/db/test.rs
index 90e62eb8..95cb0a5f 100644
--- a/crates/pipeline_manager/src/db/test.rs
+++ b/crates/pipeline_manager/src/db/test.rs
@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@ use super::{
     storage::Storage, AttachedConnector, ConfigDescr, ConfigId, ConnectorDescr, ConnectorId,
     ConnectorType, PipelineId, ProjectDB, ProjectDescr, ProjectId, ProjectStatus, Version,
 };
-use crate::db::DBError;
+use crate::db::{pg_setup, DBError};
 use anyhow::Result as AnyResult;
 use async_trait::async_trait;
 use chrono::DateTime;
+use pg_embed::postgres::PgEmbed;
 use pretty_assertions::assert_eq;
 use proptest::prelude::*;
 use proptest::test_runner::{Config, TestRunner};
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ use tokio::sync::Mutex;
 
 struct DbHandle {
     db: ProjectDB,
+    pg: PgEmbed,
     _temp_dir: TempDir,
 }
 
@@ -29,11 +31,9 @@ impl Drop for DbHandle {
         // shutdown postgres). Otherwise postgres log an error that the
         // directory is already gone during shutdown which could be
         // confusing for a developer.
-        if let Some(pg) = self.db.pg.as_mut() {
-            let _r = async {
-                pg.stop_db().await.unwrap();
-            };
-        }
+        let _r = async {
+            self.pg.stop_db().await.unwrap();
+        };
     }
 }
 
@@ -55,19 +55,17 @@ async fn test_setup() -> DbHandle {
             .map(|l| l.port())
             .unwrap_or(DB_PORT_COUNTER.fetch_add(1, Ordering::Relaxed))
     };
+    let pg = pg_setup::install(temp_path.into(), false, Some(port))
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
 
-    let conn = ProjectDB::connect_inner(
-        "postgres-embed",
-        &Some("".to_string()),
-        temp_path.into(),
-        false,
-        Some(port),
-    )
-    .await
-    .unwrap();
+    let conn = ProjectDB::connect_inner(&pg.db_uri, &Some("".to_string()))
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
 
     DbHandle {
         db: conn,
+        pg: pg,
         _temp_dir,
     }
 }
diff --git a/deploy/Dockerfile b/deploy/Dockerfile
index ad8191c1..4f47a2e2 100644
--- a/deploy/Dockerfile
+++ b/deploy/Dockerfile
@@ -26,13 +26,13 @@ RUN /root/.cargo/bin/cargo chef prepare --recipe-path recipe.json
 # layer for faster incremental builds of source-code only changes
 FROM chef AS builder
 COPY --from=planner /app/recipe.json recipe.json
-RUN /root/.cargo/bin/cargo chef cook --release --recipe-path recipe.json --bin=dbsp_pipeline_manager
+RUN /root/.cargo/bin/cargo chef cook --release --recipe-path recipe.json --bin=dbsp_pipeline_manager --no-default-features
 COPY . .
 RUN rm /app/crates/dbsp/benches/ldbc-graphalytics.rs \
     && rm /app/crates/dbsp/benches/gdelt.rs \
     && rm /app/crates/nexmark/benches/nexmark.rs \
     && rm /app/crates/nexmark/benches/nexmark-gen.rs
-RUN /root/.cargo/bin/cargo build --release --bin=dbsp_pipeline_manager
+RUN /root/.cargo/bin/cargo build --release --bin=dbsp_pipeline_manager --no-default-features
 
 # Java build can be performed in parallel
 FROM base as javabuild
diff --git a/scripts/start_manager.sh b/scripts/start_manager.sh
index 2191338e..c00f8959 100755
--- a/scripts/start_manager.sh
+++ b/scripts/start_manager.sh
@@ -37,4 +37,5 @@ cd "${MANAGER_DIR}" && ~/.cargo/bin/cargo run --release -- \
     --sql-compiler-home="${SQL_COMPILER_DIR}" \
     --dbsp-override-path="${ROOT_DIR}" \
     --static-html=static \
-    --unix-daemon
+    --unix-daemon \
+    --db-connection-string="postgres-embed"