diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index eb29a804b4..b13b22f6ea 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -958,6 +958,12 @@ version = "0.2.16"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "3b3cff922bd51709b605d9ead9aa71031d81447142d828eb4a6eba76fe619f9b"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pkg-config"
+version = "0.3.33"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "19f132c84eca552bf34cab8ec81f1c1dcc229b811638f9d283dceabe58c5569e"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "portable-atomic"
 version = "1.11.1"
@@ -1012,6 +1018,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "zerocopy",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pq-sys"
+version = "0.7.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "574ddd6a267294433f140b02a726b0640c43cf7c6f717084684aaa3b285aba61"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+ "pkg-config",
+ "vcpkg",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "proc-macro2"
 version = "1.0.95"
@@ -1624,6 +1641,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "mime",
  "once_cell",
  "postgres-protocol",
+ "pq-sys",
  "pyo3",
  "pyo3-log",
  "pythonize",
@@ -1908,6 +1926,12 @@ version = "1.0.4"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b6c140620e7ffbb22c2dee59cafe6084a59b5ffc27a8859a5f0d494b5d52b6be"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "vcpkg"
+version = "0.2.15"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "accd4ea62f7bb7a82fe23066fb0957d48ef677f6eeb8215f372f52e48bb32426"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "version_check"
 version = "0.9.5"
diff --git a/rust/Cargo.toml b/rust/Cargo.toml
index 1d1bee28e4..6a704d826f 100644
--- a/rust/Cargo.toml
+++ b/rust/Cargo.toml
@@ -66,6 +66,10 @@ tokio-postgres = "0.7"
 once_cell = "1.18.0"
 itertools = "0.14.0"
 postgres-protocol = "0.6.10"
+# Raw libpq bindings, used by `database::postgres::libpq` to resolve libpq's
+# default host. Ships pre-generated bindings and links the system libpq itself,
+# so — unlike a bindgen-based binding — the build needs no libclang.
+pq-sys = "0.7.5"
 
 [build-dependencies]
 blake2 = "0.10.4"
diff --git a/rust/src/database/postgres/libpq.rs b/rust/src/database/postgres/libpq.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..579b5a492c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rust/src/database/postgres/libpq.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+//! Resolve libpq's default host for a DSN that omits `host=`.
+//!
+//! [`tokio_postgres`] applies its *own* default host (`localhost`) when a DSN
+//! omits `host=`, whereas Synapse has always used libpq's default — the
+//! compiled-in default socket directory (which distributions such as Debian
+//! patch) and environment variables like `PGHOST`. So when a DSN has no host we
+//! ask the real libpq what it would do and copy that across.
+//!
+//! We call libpq through [`pq_sys`], which ships pre-generated bindings and
+//! links the system libpq itself. Unlike a bindgen-based binding crate that
+//! generates its FFI at build time, this needs no libclang to build — only a C
+//! linker and a discoverable libpq (`pg_config` / `pkg-config`).
+
+use std::ffi::{c_char, CStr, CString};
+
+use anyhow::{bail, Error};
+use pq_sys::{ConnStatusType, PGconn, PQconnectStart, PQerrorMessage, PQfinish, PQhost, PQstatus};
+
+/// Owns a `PGconn` and calls `PQfinish` on drop.
+struct Connection(*mut PGconn);
+
+impl Drop for Connection {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        // SAFETY: `self.0` was returned by `PQconnectStart` and is finished
+        // exactly once, here. `PQfinish` accepts a connection that never
+        // completed its (non-blocking) connect.
+        unsafe { PQfinish(self.0) }
+    }
+}
+
+/// Ask libpq which host an otherwise-empty connection string would connect to.
+///
+/// Resolves libpq's defaults *without opening a socket*: `PQconnectStart`
+/// begins a non-blocking connection but we never poll it (no `PQconnectPoll`),
+/// then drop it immediately — so this only parses options and applies defaults.
+pub fn default_host() -> Result<String, Error> {
+    // An empty conninfo means "use every default".
+    let conninfo = CString::new("")?;
+
+    // SAFETY: `conninfo` is a valid NUL-terminated string that outlives the
+    // call; `PQconnectStart` copies what it needs.
+    let conn = unsafe { PQconnectStart(conninfo.as_ptr()) };
+    if conn.is_null() {
+        bail!("libpq PQconnectStart returned null (out of memory)");
+    }
+    let conn = Connection(conn);
+
+    // SAFETY: `conn.0` is non-null and valid for the rest of this scope.
+    if unsafe { PQstatus(conn.0) } == ConnStatusType::CONNECTION_BAD {
+        // SAFETY: `PQerrorMessage` returns a valid (possibly empty) C string
+        // owned by the connection.
+        let msg = unsafe { cstr_lossy(PQerrorMessage(conn.0)) };
+        bail!("libpq could not parse default connection options: {msg}");
+    }
+
+    // SAFETY: `conn.0` is valid; `PQhost` returns a pointer owned by the
+    // connection (valid until `PQfinish`), or null.
+    let host_ptr = unsafe { PQhost(conn.0) };
+    if host_ptr.is_null() {
+        bail!("libpq PQhost returned null");
+    }
+
+    // SAFETY: non-null, checked just above.
+    let host = unsafe { cstr_lossy(host_ptr) };
+    if host.is_empty() {
+        bail!("libpq reported an empty default host");
+    }
+
+    Ok(host)
+}
+
+/// Copy a libpq-owned C string into an owned `String` (lossy on non-UTF-8).
+///
+/// # Safety
+/// `ptr` must be non-null and point to a valid NUL-terminated string.
+unsafe fn cstr_lossy(ptr: *const c_char) -> String {
+    CStr::from_ptr(ptr).to_string_lossy().into_owned()
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn resolves_a_nonempty_default_host() {
+        // We can't assert the exact value (it's host/distro/env dependent),
+        // but libpq must always resolve *some* non-empty default host — the
+        // whole reason we defer to it rather than hard-coding one.
+        let host = default_host().expect("libpq should resolve a default host");
+        assert!(!host.is_empty());
+    }
+}
diff --git a/rust/src/database/postgres/mod.rs b/rust/src/database/postgres/mod.rs
index 3b22399e1b..4c16cf3063 100644
--- a/rust/src/database/postgres/mod.rs
+++ b/rust/src/database/postgres/mod.rs
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 //! [`tokio_postgres`]-backed `Connection` / `Cursor` types exposed to Python.
 //!
-//! The driver itself is async; we drive it from sync Python methods via a
-//! shared multi-thread tokio runtime (see `super::runtime`).
+//! The driver itself is async; we drive it from sync Python methods via the
+//! extension's shared multi-thread tokio runtime (see [`crate::tokio_runtime`]).
+//! [`connect`] takes the runtime's handle from the reactor once and hands it to
+//! the [`Connection`], which carries it for the life of the connection.
 
+use anyhow::Error;
 use log::warn;
 use pyo3::exceptions::PyRuntimeError;
 use pyo3::prelude::*;
@@ -14,6 +17,7 @@ use crate::tokio_runtime::runtime_handle;
 mod connection;
 mod cursor_state;
 mod helpers;
+mod libpq;
 mod value;
 
 /// Register the `postgres` submodule (the `Connection` / `Cursor` classes and
@@ -59,9 +63,8 @@ fn connect<'py>(
 ) -> PyResult<Bound<'py, connection::Connection>> {
     let handle = runtime_handle(reactor)?;
 
-    let config = dsn
-        .parse::<tokio_postgres::Config>()
-        .map_err(|e| PyRuntimeError::new_err(format!("Failed to parse DSN: {e}")))?;
+    let config = fixup_default_host(dsn)
+        .map_err(|e| PyRuntimeError::new_err(format!("Failed to prepare DSN: {e}")))?;
 
     // TLS is not yet supported: unlike libpq (whose default is
     // `sslmode=prefer`), we never negotiate TLS regardless of the DSN's
@@ -81,3 +84,29 @@ fn connect<'py>(
 
     Bound::new(py, conn)
 }
+
+/// Fix up a DSN to ensure it has a host, using libpq's default host if
+/// necessary.
+///
+/// [`tokio_postgres`] has a different default host than libpq, which is what
+/// Synapse previously used (and is what e.g. `psql` uses). libpq's default host
+/// is configurable, so when the DSN omits a host we ask libpq what its default
+/// would be and use that instead (see [`libpq::default_host`]).
+fn fixup_default_host(dsn: &str) -> Result<tokio_postgres::Config, Error> {
+    let mut config = dsn.parse::<tokio_postgres::Config>()?;
+
+    // `tokio_postgres` parses only the DSN string (it does not consult `PGHOST`
+    // or the compiled-in default), so an empty host list means the DSN really
+    // omitted the host. A DSN that gives a `hostaddr` instead of a `host` is
+    // still connectable as-is, so leave it alone too — injecting a default host
+    // there would just confuse TLS/SNI.
+    if !config.get_hosts().is_empty() || !config.get_hostaddrs().is_empty() {
+        return Ok(config);
+    }
+
+    // Resolve libpq's default host without connecting (see `libpq::default_host`).
+    let host = libpq::default_host()?;
+    config.host(&host);
+
+    Ok(config)
+}