diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index b465117..f58e544 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -2,11 +2,12 @@
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
-## [5.0.2] - 2025-04-03
+## [5.0.2] - 2025-04-04
 
 ### Fixed
 
 - fix root-path handling when setting in uvicorn command
+- reduce `db_min_conn_size` to `1` to avoid creating too many db connections when starting the application
 
 ## [5.0.1] - 2025-03-27
 
diff --git a/stac_fastapi/pgstac/config.py b/stac_fastapi/pgstac/config.py
index fbad1f5..e1cd3b4 100644
--- a/stac_fastapi/pgstac/config.py
+++ b/stac_fastapi/pgstac/config.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ class PostgresSettings(BaseSettings):
     postgres_port: int
     postgres_dbname: str
 
-    db_min_conn_size: int = 10
+    db_min_conn_size: int = 1
     db_max_conn_size: int = 10
     db_max_queries: int = 50000
     db_max_inactive_conn_lifetime: float = 300