diff --git a/mealie/core/settings/db_providers.py b/mealie/core/settings/db_providers.py
index 0a9df39a6fcf..99147554ff95 100644
--- a/mealie/core/settings/db_providers.py
+++ b/mealie/core/settings/db_providers.py
@@ -39,16 +39,16 @@ class PostgresProvider(AbstractDBProvider, BaseSettings):
     POSTGRES_SERVER: str = "postgres"
     POSTGRES_PORT: str = "5432"
     POSTGRES_DB: str = "mealie"
-    POSTGRES_URL: str = ""
+    POSTGRES_URL_OVERRIDE: str | None = None
 
     model_config = SettingsConfigDict(arbitrary_types_allowed=True, extra="allow")
 
     @property
     def db_url(self) -> str:
-        if self.POSTGRES_URL:
-            return self.POSTGRES_URL
+        if self.POSTGRES_URL_OVERRIDE:
+            return self.POSTGRES_URL_OVERRIDE
 
-        self.POSTGRES_URL = str(
+        return str(
             PostgresDsn.build(
                 scheme="postgresql",
                 username=self.POSTGRES_USER,
@@ -58,8 +58,6 @@ class PostgresProvider(AbstractDBProvider, BaseSettings):
             )
         )
 
-        return self.POSTGRES_URL
-
     @property
     def db_url_public(self) -> str:
         user = self.POSTGRES_USER