diff --git a/backend/internal/setup/setup.go b/backend/internal/setup/setup.go
index de3b765a..9256d245 100644
--- a/backend/internal/setup/setup.go
+++ b/backend/internal/setup/setup.go
@@ -164,8 +164,8 @@ func NeedsSetup() bool {
 func TestDatabaseConnection(cfg *DatabaseConfig) error {
 	// First, connect to the default 'postgres' database to check/create target database
 	defaultDSN := fmt.Sprintf(
-		"host=%s port=%d user=%s password=%s dbname=postgres sslmode=%s",
-		cfg.Host, cfg.Port, cfg.User, cfg.Password, cfg.SSLMode,
+		"host=%s port=%d user=%s password=%s dbname=%s sslmode=%s",
+		cfg.Host, cfg.Port, cfg.User, cfg.Password, cfg.DBName, cfg.SSLMode,
 	)
 
 	db, err := sql.Open("postgres", defaultDSN)