diff --git a/.github/workflows/general.yml b/.github/workflows/general.yml
index a27ed86..9412895 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/general.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/general.yml
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ env:
   CARGO_TERM_COLOR: always
   SQLX_VERSION: 0.8.0
   SQLX_FEATURES: "rustls,postgres"
+  APP_USER: app
+  APP_USER_PWD: secret
+  APP_DB_NAME: newsletter
 
 jobs:
   test:
@@ -56,6 +59,18 @@ jobs:
           # This may be useful for ensuring reproducible builds, to use the exact same set of dependencies that were available when the package was published.
           # It may also be useful if a newer version of a dependency is published that no longer builds on your system, or has other problems
 
+      - name: Create app user in Postgres
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get install postgresql-client
+
+          # Create the application user
+          CREATE_QUERY="CREATE USER ${APP_USER} WITH PASSWORD '${APP_USER_PWD}';"
+          PGPASSWORD="password" psql -U "postgres" -h "localhost" -c "${CREATE_QUERY}"
+
+          # Grant create db privileges to the app user
+          GRANT_QUERY="ALTER USER ${APP_USER} CREATEDB;"
+          PGPASSWORD="password" psql -U "postgres" -h "localhost" -c "${GRANT_QUERY}"
+
       - name: Migrate database
         run: |
           SKIP_DOCKER=true ./scripts/init_db.sh
@@ -117,6 +132,17 @@ jobs:
           --features ${{ env.SQLX_FEATURES }}
           --no-default-features
           --locked
+      - name: Create app user in Postgres
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get install postgresql-client
+
+          # Create the application user
+          CREATE_QUERY="CREATE USER ${APP_USER} WITH PASSWORD '${APP_USER_PWD}';"
+          PGPASSWORD="password" psql -U "postgres" -h "localhost" -c "${CREATE_QUERY}"
+
+          # Grant create db privileges to the app user
+          GRANT_QUERY="ALTER USER ${APP_USER} CREATEDB;"
+          PGPASSWORD="password" psql -U "postgres" -h "localhost" -c "${GRANT_QUERY}"
       - name: Migrate database
         run: SKIP_DOCKER=true ./scripts/init_db.sh
       - name: Install cargo-llvm-cov
diff --git a/scripts/init_db.sh b/scripts/init_db.sh
index 8c91502..42625bf 100755
--- a/scripts/init_db.sh
+++ b/scripts/init_db.sh
@@ -10,16 +10,13 @@ if ! [ -x "$(command -v sqlx)" ]; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
-# Check if a custom user has been set, otherwise default to 'postgres'
-DB_USER="${POSTGRES_USER:=postgres}"
-# Check if a custom password has been set, otherwise default to 'password'
-DB_PASSWORD="${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:=password}"
-# Check if a custom database name has been set, otherwise default to 'newsletter'
-DB_NAME="${POSTGRES_DB:=newsletter}"
-# Check if a custom port has been set, otherwise default to '5432'
-DB_PORT="${POSTGRES_PORT:=5432}"
-# Check if a custom host has been set, otherwise default to 'localhost'
-DB_HOST="${POSTGRES_HOST:=localhost}"
+# Check if a custom parameter has been set, otherwise use default values
+DB_PORT="${DB_PORT:=5432}"
+SUPERUSER="${SUPERUSER:=postgres}"
+SUPERUSER_PWD="${SUPERUSER_PWD:=password}"
+APP_USER="${APP_USER:=app}"
+APP_USER_PWD="${APP_USER_PWD:=secret}"
+APP_DB_NAME="${APP_DB_NAME:=newsletter}"
 
 # Allow to skip Docker if a dockerized Postgres database is already running
 if [[ -z "${SKIP_DOCKER}" ]]
@@ -34,15 +31,14 @@ then
   CONTAINER_NAME="postgres_$(date '+%s')"
   # Launch postgres using Docker
   docker run \
-      -e POSTGRES_USER=${DB_USER} \
-      -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD} \
-      -e POSTGRES_DB=${DB_NAME} \
-      --health-cmd="pg_isready -U ${DB_USER} || exit 1" \
+      --env POSTGRES_USER=${SUPERUSER} \
+      --env POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${SUPERUSER_PWD} \
+      --health-cmd="pg_isready -U ${SUPERUSER} || exit 1" \
       --health-interval=1s \
       --health-timeout=5s \
       --health-retries=5 \
-      -p "${DB_PORT}":5432 \
-      -d \
+      --publish "${DB_PORT}":5432 \
+      --detach \
       --name "${CONTAINER_NAME}" \
       postgres -N 1000
       # ^ Increased maximum number of connections for testing purposes
@@ -54,11 +50,21 @@ then
     >&2 echo "Postgres is still unavailable - sleeping"
     sleep 1 
   done
+  
+  # Create the application user
+  CREATE_QUERY="CREATE USER ${APP_USER} WITH PASSWORD '${APP_USER_PWD}';"
+  docker exec -it "${CONTAINER_NAME}" psql -U "${SUPERUSER}" -c "${CREATE_QUERY}"
+  
+  # Grant create db privileges to the app user
+  GRANT_QUERY="ALTER USER ${APP_USER} CREATEDB;"
+  docker exec -it "${CONTAINER_NAME}" psql -U "${SUPERUSER}" -c "${GRANT_QUERY}"
 fi
 
 >&2 echo "Postgres is up and running on port ${DB_PORT} - running migrations now!"
 
-export DATABASE_URL=postgres://${DB_USER}:${DB_PASSWORD}@${DB_HOST}:${DB_PORT}/${DB_NAME}
+# Create the application database
+DATABASE_URL=postgres://${APP_USER}:${APP_USER_PWD}@localhost:${DB_PORT}/${APP_DB_NAME}
+export DATABASE_URL
 sqlx database create
 sqlx migrate run
 
diff --git a/src/configuration.rs b/src/configuration.rs
index 2c70df0..c81fd2d 100644
--- a/src/configuration.rs
+++ b/src/configuration.rs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ pub struct DatabaseSettings {
 }
 
 impl DatabaseSettings {
-    pub fn without_db(&self) -> PgConnectOptions {
+    pub fn connect_options(&self) -> PgConnectOptions {
         let ssl_mode = if self.require_ssl {
             PgSslMode::Require
         } else {
@@ -43,10 +43,7 @@ impl DatabaseSettings {
             .password(self.password.expose_secret())
             .port(self.port)
             .ssl_mode(ssl_mode)
-    }
-
-    pub fn with_db(&self) -> PgConnectOptions {
-        self.without_db().database(&self.database_name)
+            .database(&self.database_name)
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/startup.rs b/src/startup.rs
index e226fac..42c8c59 100644
--- a/src/startup.rs
+++ b/src/startup.rs
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ impl Application {
 }
 
 pub fn get_connection_pool(configuration: &DatabaseSettings) -> PgPool {
-    PgPoolOptions::new().connect_lazy_with(configuration.with_db())
+    PgPoolOptions::new().connect_lazy_with(configuration.connect_options())
 }
 
 pub struct ApplicationBaseUrl(pub String);
diff --git a/tests/api/helpers.rs b/tests/api/helpers.rs
index 7035382..adbc3b0 100644
--- a/tests/api/helpers.rs
+++ b/tests/api/helpers.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+use secrecy::Secret;
 use sqlx::{Connection, Executor, PgConnection, PgPool};
 use std::sync::LazyLock;
 use uuid::Uuid;
@@ -115,22 +116,27 @@ pub async fn spawn_app() -> TestApp {
 
 async fn configure_database(config: &DatabaseSettings) -> PgPool {
     // Create database
-    let mut connection = PgConnection::connect_with(&config.without_db())
+    let maintenance_settings = DatabaseSettings {
+        database_name: "postgres".to_string(),
+        username: "postgres".to_string(),
+        password: Secret::new("password".to_string()),
+        ..config.clone()
+    };
+    let mut connection = PgConnection::connect_with(&maintenance_settings.connect_options())
         .await
         .expect("Failed to connect to Postgres");
     connection
-        .execute(&*format!(r#"CREATE DATABASE "{}";"#, config.database_name))
+        .execute(format!(r#"CREATE DATABASE "{}";"#, config.database_name).as_str())
         .await
         .expect("Failed to create database.");
 
     // Migrate database
-    let connection_pool = PgPool::connect_with(config.with_db())
+    let connection_pool = PgPool::connect_with(config.connect_options())
         .await
         .expect("Failed to connect to Postgres.");
     sqlx::migrate!("./migrations")
         .run(&connection_pool)
         .await
         .expect("Failed to migrate the database");
-
     connection_pool
 }