diff --git a/internal/harnessrl/registry.ts b/internal/harnessrl/registry.ts
index e3941775..d7a278de 100644
--- a/internal/harnessrl/registry.ts
+++ b/internal/harnessrl/registry.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import pg from "pg";
 import { readFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 
+import { buildPostgresPoolConfig, postgresSslModeFromConnectionString } from "../db/runtime-store-core.ts";
 import type { ActivityResult, CaseRunEvent, CaseRunRecord, CaseRunStatus, HarnessRLRegistry, StartCaseRunInput } from "./contracts.ts";
 import { terminalStatus } from "./contracts.ts";
 
@@ -14,7 +15,11 @@ export class PostgresHarnessRLRegistry implements HarnessRLRegistry {
 
   constructor(databaseUrl: string) {
     if (!databaseUrl) throw codedError("harnessrl_database_url_required", "HARNESSRL_DATABASE_URL is required");
-    this.pool = new Pool({ connectionString: databaseUrl, max: 8 });
+    this.pool = new Pool(buildPostgresPoolConfig({
+      dbUrl: databaseUrl,
+      sslMode: postgresSslModeFromConnectionString(databaseUrl) ?? "disable",
+      poolMax: 8
+    }));
   }
 
   ensureSchema() {