diff --git a/zerver/management/commands/backup.py b/zerver/management/commands/backup.py
index 3c6cc5adec..f7a633578c 100644
--- a/zerver/management/commands/backup.py
+++ b/zerver/management/commands/backup.py
@@ -67,10 +67,20 @@ class Command(ZulipBaseCommand):
                 paths.append(("settings", "/etc/zulip"))
 
             if not options['skip_db']:
-                db_name = settings.DATABASES["default"]["NAME"]
-                db_dir = os.path.join(tmp, "zulip-backup", "database")
+                pg_dump_command = [
+                    "pg_dump",
+                    "--format=directory",
+                    "--file", os.path.join(tmp, "zulip-backup", "database"),
+                    "--host", settings.DATABASES["default"]["HOST"],
+                    "--port", settings.DATABASES["default"]["PORT"],
+                    "--username", settings.DATABASES["default"]["USER"],
+                    "--dbname", settings.DATABASES["default"]["NAME"],
+                    "--no-password",
+                ]
+                os.environ["PGPASSWORD"] = settings.DATABASES["default"]["PASSWORD"]
+
                 run(
-                    ["pg_dump", "--format=directory", "--file", db_dir, "--", db_name],
+                    pg_dump_command,
                     cwd=tmp,
                 )
                 members.append("zulip-backup/database")