diff --git a/main.tf b/main.tf
index 26312fa..3ec632b 100644
--- a/main.tf
+++ b/main.tf
@@ -124,19 +124,29 @@ resource "kubernetes_job" "db_init_job" {
         container {
           name  = "init-db"
           image = "postgres:${var.postgres_version}"
-
           command = [
             "/bin/sh",
-            "-c",
-            "psql $DATABASE_URL -c \"CREATE DATABASE ${each.key};\""
+            "-c"
+          ]
+          args = [
+            <<-EOC
+            set -x
+            if $FORCE_RECREATE; then
+              # psql $DATABASE_URL -c 'DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS ${each.key} WITH (FORCE);'
+            fi
+            set -e
+            psql $DATABASE_URL -c 'CREATE DATABASE ${each.key};'
+            EOC
           ]
-
           env {
             name  = "DATABASE_URL"
             value = replace(each.value.metadata_backend_url, "/${basename(each.value.metadata_backend_url)}", "/postgres")
           }
+          env {
+            name  = "FORCE_RECREATE"
+            value = var.metadata_database_force_recreate
+          }
         }
-
         restart_policy = "OnFailure"
       }
     }
diff --git a/variables.tf b/variables.tf
index 71ac3a8..5bd01c1 100644
--- a/variables.tf
+++ b/variables.tf
@@ -104,3 +104,9 @@ variable "postgres_version" {
   type        = string
   default     = "15"
 }
+
+variable "metadata_database_force_recreate" {
+  description = "Force recreation of the PG database on changes. This should only be turned on during development"
+  type        = bool
+  default     = false
+}