diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 13afc7bd..5b2e476c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
 # backup-tools
 
 This repo contains the PostgreSQL database backup tool.
+
+Use this through the [pgbackup Helm chart](https://github.com/sapcc/helm-charts/tree/master/common/pgbackup).
diff --git a/backup-tools.sh b/backup-tools.sh
index 102d9c34..84391de4 100755
--- a/backup-tools.sh
+++ b/backup-tools.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env sh
-#shellcheck disable=SC3040 # sh in Alpine does support pipefail
+#!/usr/bin/env ash
 set -euo pipefail
 
 usage() {
@@ -55,7 +54,33 @@ cmd_restore() {
   if [ "$BACKUP_ID" = "unset" ]; then
     usage && exit 1
   fi
-  do_curl POST "/v1/restore/${BACKUP_ID}"
+  if [ "${PGSQL_USER:-unset}" = backup ]; then
+    # when using the postgresql-ng chart, this container has a restricted user
+    # with read-only privileges that are enough for creating backups, but not
+    # for restoring them
+    echo "Please enter credentials for the PostgreSQL superuser to proceed."
+    echo -n "Username [postgres]: "
+    read -r PG_SUPERUSER_NAME
+    if [ "$PG_SUPERUSER_NAME" = "" ]; then
+      PG_SUPERUSER_NAME=postgres
+    fi
+    echo -n "Password (get this from the respective Kubernetes Secret): "
+    read -r PG_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD
+    if [ "$PG_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD" = "" ]; then
+      echo "ERROR: No password given." >&2
+      exit 1
+    fi
+    # to ensure that special characters in the input do not break the JSON payload,
+    # use jq to convert the raw input into string literals
+    PG_SUPERUSER_NAME_JSON="$(echo -n "$PG_SUPERUSER_NAME" | jq --raw-input --slurp .)"
+    PG_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD_JSON="$(echo -n "$PG_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD" | jq --raw-input --slurp .)"
+    do_curl POST "/v1/restore/${BACKUP_ID}" -d "{\"superuser\":{\"username\":$PG_SUPERUSER_NAME_JSON,\"password\":$PG_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD_JSON}}"
+  else
+    # when using the legacy postgres chart, this container uses the superuser
+    # credentials, so restore works directly
+    # TODO: remove this case once everyone has been migrated to postgresql-ng
+    do_curl POST "/v1/restore/${BACKUP_ID}" -d "{\"superuser\":null}"
+  fi
 }
 
 case "${1:-unset}" in
diff --git a/internal/api/api.go b/internal/api/api.go
index 42b10400..5cd125e6 100644
--- a/internal/api/api.go
+++ b/internal/api/api.go
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 package api
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"io"
 	"net/http"
 
 	"github.com/gorilla/mux"
@@ -112,6 +114,21 @@ func (a API) handleGetBackups(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 func (a API) handlePostRestore(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	httpapi.IdentifyEndpoint(r, "/v1/restore/:id")
 
+	//superuser credentials may be supplied in the request body
+	buf, err := io.ReadAll(r.Body)
+	if respondwith.ErrorText(w, err) {
+		return
+	}
+	var req struct {
+		SuperUser *restore.SuperUserCredentials `json:"superuser"`
+	}
+	if len(buf) > 0 {
+		err = json.Unmarshal(buf, &req)
+		if respondwith.ErrorText(w, err) {
+			return
+		}
+	}
+
 	//find backup
 	backups, err := restore.ListRestorableBackups(a.Config)
 	if respondwith.ErrorText(w, err) {
@@ -124,7 +141,7 @@ func (a API) handlePostRestore(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	}
 
 	//run restore
-	err = bkp.Restore(a.Config)
+	err = bkp.Restore(a.Config, req.SuperUser)
 	if err == nil {
 		http.Error(w, "backup restored successfully", http.StatusOK)
 	} else {
diff --git a/internal/restore/restore.go b/internal/restore/restore.go
index c88fad9d..5842f097 100644
--- a/internal/restore/restore.go
+++ b/internal/restore/restore.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
+	"slices"
 
 	"github.com/kballard/go-shellquote"
 	"github.com/sapcc/go-bits/logg"
@@ -30,8 +31,14 @@ import (
 	"github.com/sapcc/backup-tools/internal/core"
 )
 
+// SuperUserCredentials can be used to override the default credentials during Restore().
+type SuperUserCredentials struct {
+	Username string `json:"username"`
+	Password string `json:"password"`
+}
+
 // Restore downloads and restores this backup into the Postgres.
-func (bkp RestorableBackup) Restore(cfg *core.Configuration) error {
+func (bkp RestorableBackup) Restore(cfg *core.Configuration, suCreds *SuperUserCredentials) error {
 	//download dumps
 	dirPath := fmt.Sprintf("/tmp/restore-%s", bkp.ID)
 	err := os.MkdirAll(dirPath, 0777)
@@ -43,12 +50,22 @@ func (bkp RestorableBackup) Restore(cfg *core.Configuration) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	//override config if necessary
+	if suCreds != nil {
+		cloned := *cfg
+		cloned.PgUsername = suCreds.Username
+		cfg = &cloned
+	}
+
 	//playback dumps
 	for _, filePath := range filePaths {
 		cmd := exec.Command("psql", cfg.ArgsForPsql("-a", "-f", filePath)...) //nolint:gosec // input is user supplied and self executed
 		logg.Info(">> " + shellquote.Join(cmd.Args...))
 		cmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
 		cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
+		if suCreds != nil {
+			cmd.Env = append(slices.Clone(os.Environ()), "PGPASSWORD="+suCreds.Password)
+		}
 		err := cmd.Run()
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("could not import %s with psql: %w", filePath, err)