diff --git a/backend/src/services/database/factory.ts b/backend/src/services/database/factory.ts
index 8724c1c..5bbbbb5 100644
--- a/backend/src/services/database/factory.ts
+++ b/backend/src/services/database/factory.ts
@@ -65,7 +65,9 @@ export function createClassificationsDatabaseAdapter(): DatabaseAdapter {
       const name = process.env.CLASSIFICATIONS_DATABASE_NAME || process.env.DATABASE_NAME || 'cmdb';
       const user = process.env.DATABASE_USER || 'cmdb';
       const password = process.env.DATABASE_PASSWORD || '';
-      const ssl = process.env.DATABASE_SSL === 'true' ? '?sslmode=require' : '';
+      // Azure PostgreSQL requires SSL - always use sslmode=require for Azure
+      const isAzure = host.includes('.postgres.database.azure.com');
+      const ssl = (process.env.DATABASE_SSL === 'true' || isAzure) ? '?sslmode=require' : '';
 
       const constructedUrl = `postgresql://${user}:${password}@${host}:${port}/${name}${ssl}`;
       logger.info('Creating PostgreSQL adapter for classifications with constructed connection string');