diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 395e42d3..38cb7476 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -54,9 +54,8 @@ deadpool-postgres = { version = "0.14", optional = true }
 tokio-postgres = { version = "0.7", features = ["with-uuid-1", "with-chrono-0_4", "with-serde_json-1"], optional = true }
 postgres-types = { version = "0.2", features = ["with-serde_json-1"], optional = true }
 refinery = { version = "0.8", features = ["tokio-postgres"], optional = true }
-tokio-postgres-rustls = { version = "0.13", optional = true }
-rustls = { version = "0.23", optional = true, default-features = false }
-rustls-native-certs = { version = "0.8", optional = true }
+postgres-native-tls = { version = "0.5", optional = true }
+native-tls = { version = "0.2", optional = true }
 
 # Database - libSQL/Turso (optional embedded database)
 libsql = { version = "0.6", optional = true, default-features = false, features = ["core", "replication", "remote", "tls"] }
@@ -216,9 +215,8 @@ default = ["postgres", "libsql", "html-to-markdown"]
 postgres = [
     "dep:deadpool-postgres",
     "dep:tokio-postgres",
-    "dep:tokio-postgres-rustls",
-    "dep:rustls",
-    "dep:rustls-native-certs",
+    "dep:postgres-native-tls",
+    "dep:native-tls",
     "dep:postgres-types",
     "dep:refinery",
     "dep:pgvector",
diff --git a/src/db/tls.rs b/src/db/tls.rs
index bbcb6c6f..bcf6f2f6 100644
--- a/src/db/tls.rs
+++ b/src/db/tls.rs
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 //! TLS connector factory for PostgreSQL connections.
 //!
 //! Builds a [`deadpool_postgres::Pool`] with the appropriate TLS connector
-//! based on the configured [`SslMode`].  Uses `rustls` with system root
-//! certificates — the same TLS stack that `reqwest` already uses for HTTP.
+//! based on the configured [`SslMode`].  Uses `native-tls` which delegates
+//! to the platform's TLS library (OpenSSL on Linux, Secure Transport on macOS,
+//! SChannel on Windows).
 
 use deadpool_postgres::{Pool, Runtime};
+use postgres_native_tls::MakeTlsConnector;
 use thiserror::Error;
 use tokio_postgres::NoTls;
-use tokio_postgres_rustls::MakeRustlsConnect;
 
 use crate::config::SslMode;
 
@@ -16,39 +17,21 @@ pub enum CreatePoolError {
     #[error("{0}")]
     Pool(#[from] deadpool_postgres::CreatePoolError),
     #[error("postgres TLS configuration failed: {0}")]
-    TlsConfig(#[from] rustls::Error),
+    TlsConfig(#[from] native_tls::Error),
 }
 
-/// Build a rustls-based TLS connector using the platform's root certificate store.
-fn make_rustls_connector() -> Result<MakeRustlsConnect, rustls::Error> {
-    let mut root_store = rustls::RootCertStore::empty();
-    let native = rustls_native_certs::load_native_certs();
-    for e in &native.errors {
-        tracing::warn!("error loading system root certs: {e}");
-    }
-    for cert in native.certs {
-        if let Err(e) = root_store.add(cert) {
-            tracing::warn!("skipping invalid system root cert: {e}");
-        }
-    }
-    if root_store.is_empty() {
-        tracing::error!("no system root certificates found -- TLS connections will fail");
-    }
-    // `--all-features` brings in both aws-lc-rs and ring-backed rustls providers.
-    // Pick the same ring provider reqwest already uses so postgres TLS setup stays deterministic.
-    let config = rustls::ClientConfig::builder_with_provider(
-        rustls::crypto::ring::default_provider().into(),
-    )
-    .with_safe_default_protocol_versions()?
-    .with_root_certificates(root_store)
-    .with_no_client_auth();
-    Ok(MakeRustlsConnect::new(config))
+/// Build a native-tls connector using the platform's certificate store.
+fn make_tls_connector() -> Result<MakeTlsConnector, native_tls::Error> {
+    let tls_connector = native_tls::TlsConnector::builder()
+        .danger_accept_invalid_certs(false)
+        .build()?;
+    Ok(MakeTlsConnector::new(tls_connector))
 }
 
 /// Create a [`deadpool_postgres::Pool`] with the appropriate TLS connector.
 ///
 /// - `Disable` → plain TCP (no TLS)
-/// - `Prefer` / `Require` → rustls with system root certificates
+/// - `Prefer` / `Require` → native-tls with platform certificate store
 ///
 /// **Note:** `Prefer` and `Require` currently behave identically — both
 /// provide a TLS connector and will fail if the server rejects the TLS
@@ -65,7 +48,7 @@ pub fn create_pool(
             .create_pool(Some(Runtime::Tokio1), NoTls)
             .map_err(CreatePoolError::from),
         SslMode::Prefer | SslMode::Require => {
-            let tls = make_rustls_connector()?;
+            let tls = make_tls_connector()?;
             config
                 .create_pool(Some(Runtime::Tokio1), tls)
                 .map_err(CreatePoolError::from)
@@ -81,7 +64,6 @@ mod tests {
     fn create_pool_disable_mode() {
         let mut config = deadpool_postgres::Config::new();
         config.url = Some("postgres://localhost/test".to_string());
-        // Should succeed — pool is created lazily, no actual connection needed.
         let pool = create_pool(&config, SslMode::Disable);
         assert!(pool.is_ok());
     }