diff --git a/ebean-api/src/main/java/io/ebean/DatabaseBuilder.java b/ebean-api/src/main/java/io/ebean/DatabaseBuilder.java
index a9a856bed..bbe3afdc9 100644
--- a/ebean-api/src/main/java/io/ebean/DatabaseBuilder.java
+++ b/ebean-api/src/main/java/io/ebean/DatabaseBuilder.java
@@ -1053,6 +1053,14 @@ public interface DatabaseBuilder {
   @Deprecated
   DatabaseBuilder setSkipDataSourceCheck(boolean skipDataSourceCheck);
 
+  /**
+   * Set to true if this database is used in a read only way.
+   * <p>
+   * The DataSource and read-only DataSource are expected to be the same
+   * and use readOnly=true and autoCommit=true.
+   */
+  DatabaseBuilder readOnlyDatabase(boolean readOnlyDatabase);
+
   /**
    * Set a DataSource.
    */
@@ -2607,6 +2615,14 @@ public interface DatabaseBuilder {
      */
     boolean skipDataSourceCheck();
 
+    /**
+     * Return true if this database is used in a read only way.
+     * <p>
+     * The DataSource and read-only DataSource are expected to be the same
+     * and use readOnly=true and autoCommit=true.
+     */
+    boolean readOnlyDatabase();
+
     /**
      * Return the DataSource.
      */
diff --git a/ebean-api/src/main/java/io/ebean/config/DatabaseConfig.java b/ebean-api/src/main/java/io/ebean/config/DatabaseConfig.java
index 30d72e55e..eb5e25b14 100644
--- a/ebean-api/src/main/java/io/ebean/config/DatabaseConfig.java
+++ b/ebean-api/src/main/java/io/ebean/config/DatabaseConfig.java
@@ -304,6 +304,8 @@ public class DatabaseConfig implements DatabaseBuilder.Settings {
 
   private boolean skipDataSourceCheck;
 
+  private boolean readOnlyDatabase;
+
   /**
    * The data source (if programmatically provided).
    */
@@ -1343,6 +1345,17 @@ public class DatabaseConfig implements DatabaseBuilder.Settings {
     return this;
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public DatabaseBuilder readOnlyDatabase(boolean readOnlyDatabase) {
+    this.readOnlyDatabase = readOnlyDatabase;
+    return this;
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public boolean readOnlyDatabase() {
+    return readOnlyDatabase;
+  }
+
   @Override
   public DataSource getDataSource() {
     return dataSource;
diff --git a/ebean-core/src/main/java/io/ebeaninternal/server/core/InitDataSource.java b/ebean-core/src/main/java/io/ebeaninternal/server/core/InitDataSource.java
index c5fead0da..2c994a0c3 100644
--- a/ebean-core/src/main/java/io/ebeaninternal/server/core/InitDataSource.java
+++ b/ebean-core/src/main/java/io/ebeaninternal/server/core/InitDataSource.java
@@ -38,15 +38,19 @@ final class InitDataSource {
    * Initialise the "main" read write DataSource from configuration.
    */
   private DataSource initDataSource() {
-    return createFromConfig(config.getDataSourceConfig(), false);
+    return createFromConfig(config.getDataSourceConfig(), config.readOnlyDatabase(), false);
   }
 
   /**
    * Initialise the "read only" DataSource from configuration.
    */
   private DataSource initReadOnlyDataSource() {
+    if (config.readOnlyDatabase()) {
+      // using the same DataSource instance
+      return config.getDataSource();
+    }
     var roConfig = readOnlyConfig();
-    return roConfig == null ? null : createFromConfig(roConfig, true);
+    return roConfig == null ? null : createFromConfig(roConfig, false, true);
   }
 
   DataSourceBuilder.Settings readOnlyConfig() {
@@ -76,20 +80,21 @@ final class InitDataSource {
     return url != null && !"none".equalsIgnoreCase(url) && !url.trim().isEmpty();
   }
 
-  private DataSource createFromConfig(DataSourceBuilder.Settings dsConfig, boolean readOnly) {
+  private DataSource createFromConfig(DataSourceBuilder.Settings dsConfig, boolean readOnlyDB, boolean readOnly) {
     if (dsConfig == null) {
       throw new PersistenceException("No  DataSourceBuilder defined for " + config.getName());
     }
-    if (dsConfig.isOffline()) {
-      if (config.getDatabasePlatformName() == null) {
-        throw new PersistenceException("You MUST specify a DatabasePlatformName on DatabaseConfig when offline");
-      }
+    if (dsConfig.isOffline() && config.getDatabasePlatformName() == null) {
+      throw new PersistenceException("You MUST specify a DatabasePlatformName on DatabaseConfig when offline");
     }
 
     attachAlert(dsConfig);
     attachListener(dsConfig);
 
-    if (readOnly) {
+    if (readOnlyDB) {
+      dsConfig.autoCommit(true);
+      dsConfig.readOnly(true);
+    } else if (readOnly) {
       // setup to use AutoCommit such that we skip explicit commit
       var mainSettings = config.getDataSourceConfig();
       dsConfig.autoCommit(true);
diff --git a/ebean-test/src/test/java/org/tests/readonly/PostgresReadOnlyDatabaseTest.java b/ebean-test/src/test/java/org/tests/readonly/PostgresReadOnlyDatabaseTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c33a97738
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ebean-test/src/test/java/org/tests/readonly/PostgresReadOnlyDatabaseTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+package org.tests.readonly;
+
+import io.ebean.Database;
+import io.ebean.DatabaseBuilder;
+import io.ebean.Transaction;
+import io.ebean.annotation.Transactional;
+import io.ebean.datasource.DataSourceBuilder;
+import io.ebean.test.containers.PostgresContainer;
+import io.ebeaninternal.api.SpiTransaction;
+import jakarta.persistence.PersistenceException;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeAll;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Disabled;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.tests.model.basic.UTDetail;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatThrownBy;
+
+class PostgresReadOnlyDatabaseTest {
+
+  private static Database readDb;
+
+  @BeforeAll
+  static void beforeAll() {
+    readDb = setupReadOnlyDatabase();
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void insertPreventedInReadOnlyTransaction() {
+    assertThatThrownBy(() -> {
+      try (Transaction transaction = readDb.beginTransaction()) {
+        UTDetail u0 = new UTDetail("u0", 45, 3D);
+        readDb.save(u0);
+      }
+    }).isInstanceOf(PersistenceException.class)
+      .hasMessageContaining("ERROR: cannot execute INSERT in a read-only transaction");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void queryInExplicitTransaction() {
+    try (Transaction transaction = readDb.beginTransaction()) {
+      List<UTDetail> list = readDb.find(UTDetail.class).findList();
+      assertThat(list).hasSize(2);
+      assertThat(transaction.isReadOnly()).isTrue();
+      transaction.commit(); // autoCommit=true but this is still allowed
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void queryInImplicitTransaction() {
+    List<UTDetail> list = readDb.find(UTDetail.class).findList();
+    assertThat(list).hasSize(2);
+  }
+
+  // Requires .register(true).defaultDatabase(true) ... when running this test
+  @Disabled
+  @Test
+  void queryInReadOnlyTransactional() {
+    readOnlyTransactional();
+    transactionalOnlyContainingQueries();
+  }
+
+  @Transactional(readOnly = true)
+  void readOnlyTransactional() {
+    List<UTDetail> list = readDb.find(UTDetail.class).findList();
+    assertThat(list).hasSize(2);
+
+    SpiTransaction current = (SpiTransaction) Transaction.current();
+    assertThat(current.isReadOnly()).isTrue();
+  }
+
+  @Transactional
+  void transactionalOnlyContainingQueries() {
+    List<UTDetail> list = readDb.find(UTDetail.class).findList();
+    assertThat(list).hasSize(2);
+
+    SpiTransaction current = (SpiTransaction) Transaction.current();
+    assertThat(current.isReadOnly()).isTrue();
+  }
+
+  private static Database setupReadOnlyDatabase() {
+    PostgresContainer.builder("15")
+      .dbName("readonly_test")
+      .build()
+      .start();
+
+    var dataSourceBuilder = DataSourceBuilder.create()
+      .username("readonly_test")
+      .password("test")
+      .url("jdbc:postgresql://localhost:6432/readonly_test");
+
+    var writeDb = databaseBuilder(dataSourceBuilder)
+      .ddlGenerate(true)
+      .ddlRun(true)
+      .build();
+
+    writeDb.truncate(UTDetail.class);
+    writeDb.save(new UTDetail("u0", 45, 3D));
+    writeDb.save(new UTDetail("u1", 42, 5D));
+
+    return databaseBuilder(dataSourceBuilder)
+      .readOnlyDatabase(true)
+      // register + default required for the tests using @Transactional
+      // .register(true).defaultDatabase(true)
+      .build();
+  }
+
+  private static DatabaseBuilder databaseBuilder(DataSourceBuilder dataSourceBuilder) {
+    return Database.builder()
+      .name("ro_test")
+      .dataSourceBuilder(dataSourceBuilder)
+      .ddlExtra(false)
+      .defaultDatabase(false)
+      .register(false)
+      .addClass(UTDetail.class);
+  }
+}