diff --git a/charts/dendrite/templates/dendrite-config.yaml b/charts/dendrite/templates/dendrite-config.yaml
index 688567e8c..c4b592b3c 100644
--- a/charts/dendrite/templates/dendrite-config.yaml
+++ b/charts/dendrite/templates/dendrite-config.yaml
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ stringData:
       {{- if not $componentSpecificDatabaseConfig }}
       database:
         connection_string: {{ .Values.database.connection_string }}
-        max_open_conns: {{ default 100 .Values.database.max_open_conns }}
+        max_open_conns: {{ default 90 .Values.database.max_open_conns }}
         max_idle_conns: {{ default 5 .Values.database.max_idle_conns }}
         conn_max_lifetime: {{default -1 .Values.database.conn_max_lifetime }}
       {{- end }}
diff --git a/charts/dendrite/values.yaml b/charts/dendrite/values.yaml
index 31f7b8189..84526ff39 100644
--- a/charts/dendrite/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/dendrite/values.yaml
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ persistence:
 # @default -- see values.yaml
 database:
   connection_string: file:dendrite?sslmode=disable
-  max_open_conns: 100
+  max_open_conns: 90
   max_idle_conns: 2
   conn_max_lifetime: -1