diff --git a/puppet/zulip/files/postgresql/process_fts_updates b/puppet/zulip/files/postgresql/process_fts_updates
index e3ab8436e3..5225ad9d6c 100755
--- a/puppet/zulip/files/postgresql/process_fts_updates
+++ b/puppet/zulip/files/postgresql/process_fts_updates
@@ -73,6 +73,8 @@ try:
     from django.conf import settings
     if settings.REMOTE_POSTGRES_HOST != '':
         pg_args['host'] = settings.REMOTE_POSTGRES_HOST
+    if settings.REMOTE_POSTGRES_PORT != '':
+        pg_args['port'] = settings.REMOTE_POSTGRES_PORT
     USING_PGROONGA = settings.USING_PGROONGA
 except ImportError:
     # process_fts_updates also supports running locally on a remote
diff --git a/zproject/default_settings.py b/zproject/default_settings.py
index 850f0d7293..3c03af9dfb 100644
--- a/zproject/default_settings.py
+++ b/zproject/default_settings.py
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ RABBITMQ_USERNAME = 'zulip'
 REDIS_HOST = '127.0.0.1'
 REDIS_PORT = 6379
 REMOTE_POSTGRES_HOST = ''
+REMOTE_POSTGRES_PORT = ''
 REMOTE_POSTGRES_SSLMODE = ''
 THUMBOR_URL = ''
 THUMBOR_SERVES_CAMO = False
diff --git a/zproject/prod_settings_template.py b/zproject/prod_settings_template.py
index 1a2fc822be..db12133137 100644
--- a/zproject/prod_settings_template.py
+++ b/zproject/prod_settings_template.py
@@ -393,12 +393,13 @@ ENABLE_GRAVATAR = True
 #DEFAULT_AVATAR_URI = '/local-static/default-avatar.png'
 
 # To access an external postgres database you should define the host name in
-# REMOTE_POSTGRES_HOST, you can define the password in the secrets file in the
+# REMOTE_POSTGRES_HOST, port in REMOTE_POSTGRES_PORT, password in the secrets file in the
 # property postgres_password, and the SSL connection mode in REMOTE_POSTGRES_SSLMODE
 # Valid values for REMOTE_POSTGRES_SSLMODE are documented in the
 # "SSL Mode Descriptions" table in
 #   https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.5/static/libpq-ssl.html
 #REMOTE_POSTGRES_HOST = 'dbserver.example.com'
+#REMOTE_POSTGRES_PORT = '5432'
 #REMOTE_POSTGRES_SSLMODE = 'require'
 
 # If you want to set a Terms of Service for your server, set the path
diff --git a/zproject/settings.py b/zproject/settings.py
index b89518cf1f..6b670ba49a 100644
--- a/zproject/settings.py
+++ b/zproject/settings.py
@@ -282,6 +282,7 @@ if DEVELOPMENT:
 elif REMOTE_POSTGRES_HOST != '':
     DATABASES['default'].update({
         'HOST': REMOTE_POSTGRES_HOST,
+        'PORT': REMOTE_POSTGRES_PORT
     })
     if get_secret("postgres_password") is not None:
         DATABASES['default'].update({