diff --git a/internal/flypg/node.go b/internal/flypg/node.go
index fe25232..332ae0a 100644
--- a/internal/flypg/node.go
+++ b/internal/flypg/node.go
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ func (n *Node) Init(ctx context.Context) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to initialize fly config: %s", err)
 	}
 
-	if err := n.PGConfig.initialize(store); err != nil {
+	if err := n.PGConfig.initialize(ctx, store); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to initialize pg config: %s", err)
 	}
 
@@ -527,7 +527,7 @@ func (n *Node) handleRemoteRestore(ctx context.Context, store *state.Store) erro
 		}
 
 		// Set restore configuration
-		if err := n.PGConfig.initialize(store); err != nil {
+		if err := n.PGConfig.initialize(ctx, store); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to initialize pg config: %s", err)
 		}
 
diff --git a/internal/flypg/pg.go b/internal/flypg/pg.go
index 94a294a..335de8c 100644
--- a/internal/flypg/pg.go
+++ b/internal/flypg/pg.go
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ func (c *PGConfig) Print(w io.Writer) error {
 	return e.Encode(cfg)
 }
 
-func (c *PGConfig) SetDefaults(store *state.Store) error {
+func (c *PGConfig) SetDefaults(ctx context.Context, store *state.Store) error {
 	// The default wal_segment_size in mb
 	const walSegmentSize = 16
 
@@ -184,6 +184,42 @@ func (c *PGConfig) SetDefaults(store *state.Store) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to set recovery target config: %s", err)
 	}
 
+	// Evaluate pg_control settings to determine if any internal settings need to be updated
+	if err := c.setPGControlOverrides(ctx); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to set pg_control overrides: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (c *PGConfig) setPGControlOverrides(ctx context.Context) error {
+	pgControlMap, err := pgControlSettings(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to fetch pg_control settings: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if pgControlMap != nil {
+		for k, v := range pgControlMap {
+			// Skip any settings that are not already specified by the internal config
+			if _, ok := c.internalConfig[k]; !ok {
+				continue
+			}
+
+			if k == "max_connections" {
+				maxConns, err := strconv.Atoi(v)
+				if err != nil {
+					log.Printf("[WARN] Failed to parse max_connections from pg_control: %v", err)
+					continue
+				}
+				if maxConns > c.internalConfig[k].(int) {
+					// If the max_connections from pg_control is greater than the current default, update it.
+					log.Printf("[WARN] pg_control specifies a max_connections value of %d, which is greater than our default of %d. Updating.", maxConns, c.internalConfig[k].(int))
+					c.internalConfig[k] = maxConns
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -269,7 +305,7 @@ func (c *PGConfig) isInitialized() bool {
 
 // initialize will ensure the required configuration files are stubbed and the parent
 // postgresql.conf file includes them.
-func (c *PGConfig) initialize(store *state.Store) error {
+func (c *PGConfig) initialize(ctx context.Context, store *state.Store) error {
 	if err := c.setDefaultHBA(); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed updating pg_hba.conf: %s", err)
 	}
@@ -294,7 +330,7 @@ func (c *PGConfig) initialize(store *state.Store) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if err := c.SetDefaults(store); err != nil {
+	if err := c.SetDefaults(context.TODO(), store); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to set pg defaults: %s", err)
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/flypg/pg_control.go b/internal/flypg/pg_control.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..95e63ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/flypg/pg_control.go
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+package flypg
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+
+	"log"
+
+	"github.com/fly-apps/postgres-flex/internal/utils"
+)
+
+const (
+	pathToPGControl = "/data/postgresql/global/pg_control"
+)
+
+func pgControlSettings(ctx context.Context) (map[string]string, error) {
+	// Short-circuit if the pg_control file doesn't exist.
+	if !utils.FileExists(pathToPGControl) {
+		log.Println("[WARN] pg_control file does not exist. Skipping evaluation.")
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+
+	result, err := utils.RunCmd(ctx, "root", "pg_controldata")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to run pg_controldata: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	return parsePGControlData(string(result))
+}
+
+func parsePGControlData(pgControlData string) (map[string]string, error) {
+	settings := make(map[string]string)
+
+	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(strings.NewReader(pgControlData))
+	for scanner.Scan() {
+		line := scanner.Text()
+
+		// Filter out lines that don't contain the word "setting".
+		if !strings.Contains(line, "setting:") {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		parts := strings.SplitN(line, "setting:", 2)
+		if len(parts) != 2 {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		key := strings.TrimSpace(parts[0])
+		value := strings.TrimSpace(parts[1])
+
+		settings[key] = value
+	}
+
+	// Check for any scanner errors.
+	if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return settings, nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/flypg/pg_control_test.go b/internal/flypg/pg_control_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e15285c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/flypg/pg_control_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+package flypg
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestParseSettingsFromFile(t *testing.T) {
+	// Sample input that includes some lines with "setting:" and some without.
+	input := `pg_control version number:            1300
+Catalog version number:               202307071
+Database system identifier:           7420479024646529412
+Database cluster state:               in archive recovery
+pg_control last modified:             Tue 04 Feb 2025 10:04:52 PM UTC
+Latest checkpoint location:           2/40000060
+Latest checkpoint's REDO location:    2/40000028
+Latest checkpoint's REDO WAL file:    000000020000000200000040
+Latest checkpoint's TimeLineID:       2
+Latest checkpoint's PrevTimeLineID:   2
+Latest checkpoint's full_page_writes: on
+Latest checkpoint's NextXID:          0:34
+wal_level setting:                    replica
+wal_log_hints setting:                on
+max_connections setting:              500
+max_worker_processes setting:         8
+Some other line without the keyword
+Blocks per segment of large relation: 131072
+WAL block size:                       8192
+Bytes per WAL segment:                16777216
+Maximum length of identifiers:        64
+Maximum columns in an index:          32
+Maximum size of a TOAST chunk:        1996
+Size of a large-object chunk:         2048`
+
+	settings, err := parsePGControlData(input)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("parsePGControlData returned an error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Define the expected key/value pairs.
+	expected := map[string]string{
+		"wal_level":            "replica",
+		"wal_log_hints":        "on",
+		"max_connections":      "500",
+		"max_worker_processes": "8",
+	}
+
+	if len(settings) != len(expected) {
+		t.Errorf("expected %d settings, got %d", len(expected), len(settings))
+	}
+
+	// Verify that the expected key/value pairs are present in the settings map.
+	for key, want := range expected {
+		got, ok := settings[key]
+		if !ok {
+			t.Errorf("expected key %q not found in settings", key)
+		} else if got != want {
+			t.Errorf("for key %q, expected value %q, got %q", key, want, got)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/flypg/pg_test.go b/internal/flypg/pg_test.go
index a5efe7f..7656f39 100644
--- a/internal/flypg/pg_test.go
+++ b/internal/flypg/pg_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package flypg
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
@@ -25,6 +26,8 @@ func TestPGConfigInitialization(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	defer cleanup()
 
+	ctx := context.TODO()
+
 	pgConf := &PGConfig{
 		DataDir:                pgTestDirectory,
 		Port:                   5433,
@@ -41,7 +44,7 @@ func TestPGConfigInitialization(t *testing.T) {
 
 	t.Run("initialize", func(t *testing.T) {
 		store, _ := state.NewStore()
-		if err := pgConf.initialize(store); err != nil {
+		if err := pgConf.initialize(ctx, store); err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
 	})
@@ -98,7 +101,7 @@ func TestPGConfigInitialization(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Setenv("TIMESCALEDB_ENABLED", "true")
 		store, _ := state.NewStore()
 
-		if err := pgConf.initialize(store); err != nil {
+		if err := pgConf.initialize(ctx, store); err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
 
@@ -129,7 +132,7 @@ func TestPGConfigInitialization(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 
 		t.Run("defaults", func(t *testing.T) {
-			if err := pgConf.initialize(store); err != nil {
+			if err := pgConf.initialize(ctx, store); err != nil {
 				t.Fatal(err)
 			}
 
@@ -160,7 +163,7 @@ func TestPGConfigInitialization(t *testing.T) {
 				t.Fatal(err)
 			}
 
-			if err := pgConf.initialize(store); err != nil {
+			if err := pgConf.initialize(ctx, store); err != nil {
 				t.Fatal(err)
 			}
 
@@ -181,7 +184,7 @@ func TestPGConfigInitialization(t *testing.T) {
 				t.Fatal(err)
 			}
 
-			if err := pgConf.initialize(store); err != nil {
+			if err := pgConf.initialize(ctx, store); err != nil {
 				t.Fatal(err)
 			}
 
@@ -202,7 +205,7 @@ func TestPGConfigInitialization(t *testing.T) {
 				t.Fatal(err)
 			}
 
-			if err := pgConf.initialize(store); err != nil {
+			if err := pgConf.initialize(ctx, store); err != nil {
 				t.Fatal(err)
 			}
 
@@ -223,7 +226,7 @@ func TestPGConfigInitialization(t *testing.T) {
 				t.Fatal(err)
 			}
 
-			if err := pgConf.initialize(store); err != nil {
+			if err := pgConf.initialize(ctx, store); err != nil {
 				t.Fatal(err)
 			}
 
@@ -242,7 +245,7 @@ func TestPGConfigInitialization(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Setenv("S3_ARCHIVE_CONFIG", "https://my-key:my-secret@fly.storage.tigris.dev/my-bucket/my-directory")
 		store, _ := state.NewStore()
 
-		if err := pgConf.initialize(store); err != nil {
+		if err := pgConf.initialize(ctx, store); err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
 
@@ -257,7 +260,7 @@ func TestPGConfigInitialization(t *testing.T) {
 
 		t.Setenv("S3_ARCHIVE_CONFIG", "")
 
-		if err := pgConf.initialize(store); err != nil {
+		if err := pgConf.initialize(ctx, store); err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
 
@@ -275,7 +278,7 @@ func TestPGConfigInitialization(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Setenv("S3_ARCHIVE_REMOTE_RESTORE_CONFIG", "https://my-key:my-secret@fly.storage.tigris.dev/my-bucket/my-directory?targetTime=2024-06-30T11:15:00-06:00")
 		store, _ := state.NewStore()
 
-		if err := pgConf.initialize(store); err != nil {
+		if err := pgConf.initialize(ctx, store); err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
 
@@ -293,7 +296,7 @@ func TestPGConfigInitialization(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Setenv("S3_ARCHIVE_REMOTE_RESTORE_CONFIG", "https://my-key:my-secret@fly.storage.tigris.dev/my-bucket/my-directory?targetName=20240626T172443")
 		store, _ := state.NewStore()
 
-		if err := pgConf.initialize(store); err != nil {
+		if err := pgConf.initialize(ctx, store); err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
 
@@ -311,7 +314,7 @@ func TestPGConfigInitialization(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Setenv("S3_ARCHIVE_REMOTE_RESTORE_CONFIG", "https://my-key:my-secret@fly.storage.tigris.dev/my-bucket/my-directory?target=immediate")
 		store, _ := state.NewStore()
 
-		if err := pgConf.initialize(store); err != nil {
+		if err := pgConf.initialize(ctx, store); err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
 
@@ -329,7 +332,7 @@ func TestPGConfigInitialization(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Setenv("S3_ARCHIVE_REMOTE_RESTORE_CONFIG", "https://my-key:my-secret@fly.storage.tigris.dev/my-bucket/my-directory?targetTime=2024-06-30T11:15:00Z&targetInclusive=false")
 		store, _ := state.NewStore()
 
-		if err := pgConf.initialize(store); err != nil {
+		if err := pgConf.initialize(ctx, store); err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
 
@@ -351,7 +354,7 @@ func TestPGConfigInitialization(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Setenv("S3_ARCHIVE_REMOTE_RESTORE_CONFIG", "https://my-key:my-secret@fly.storage.tigris.dev/my-bucket/my-directory?targetTime=2024-06-30T11:15:00-06:00&targetTimeline=2")
 		store, _ := state.NewStore()
 
-		if err := pgConf.initialize(store); err != nil {
+		if err := pgConf.initialize(ctx, store); err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
 
@@ -391,7 +394,7 @@ func TestPGUserConfigOverride(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	store, _ := state.NewStore()
-	if err := pgConf.initialize(store); err != nil {
+	if err := pgConf.initialize(context.TODO(), store); err != nil {
 		t.Error(err)
 	}
 
@@ -542,7 +545,7 @@ func TestValidateCompatibility(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	store, _ := state.NewStore()
-	if err := pgConf.initialize(store); err != nil {
+	if err := pgConf.initialize(context.TODO(), store); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	t.Run("SharedPreloadLibraries", func(t *testing.T) {