diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index aa17c56b1..01d9e0cd4 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -577,7 +577,8 @@ services:
     # change (at pin time `16-alpine` resolved to this same digest, so
     # existing deployments see no image change). Minor releases share
     # the on-disk format — bumping this pin is safe without a dump /
-    # restore; a major-version bump (17+) is not.
+    # restore; a major-version bump (17+) is not, see
+    # docs/ops/postgres-major-upgrade.md.
     #
     # The pin only works as long as something watches it: PostgreSQL
     # publishes minor releases with security and data-corruption fixes and
diff --git a/docs/ops/postgres-major-upgrade.md b/docs/ops/postgres-major-upgrade.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b60e48369
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/ops/postgres-major-upgrade.md
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+# Moving the database to a newer Postgres major
+
+The compose file ships Postgres 16 and stays there for now, because a major
+version change is the one database update that cannot happen by itself on
+`docker compose pull`. HealthLog runs on Postgres 18 as well: the full
+integration suite runs against 18 (`INTEGRATION_PG_IMAGE=postgres:18-alpine
+pnpm test:integration`), and the TrueNAS app starts new installs on 18.
+
+## Why changing the image line is not enough
+
+Minor releases (16.14 to 16.15) share the on-disk format. Majors do not, and
+the official image refuses to start a data directory written by an older
+major. From 18 on, the image also keeps its data one level deeper, under
+`/var/lib/postgresql/18/docker`, and expects the volume mounted at
+`/var/lib/postgresql` instead of `/var/lib/postgresql/data`. With the old
+volume and only the image line changed, the `db` container exits at once with
+"there appears to be PostgreSQL data in: /var/lib/postgresql/data". Nothing is
+lost, but the stack stays down until the image line goes back to 16.
+
+So the move is a dump from 16 and a restore into a fresh 18 volume.
+
+## Steps
+
+Take the encryption key's copy out of its safe place first: the dump is
+unreadable without it, and this is the moment you would find out.
+
+```bash
+# 1. Stop the app so nothing writes while the dump runs.
+docker compose stop app
+
+# 2. Dump the database in Postgres' custom format.
+docker compose exec -T db pg_dump -U healthlog -Fc healthlog \
+  > healthlog-pg16-$(date +%F).dump
+
+# 3. Stop the old database. Its volume stays untouched.
+docker compose stop db
+```
+
+4. In `docker-compose.yml`, change the `db` service:
+
+   ```yaml
+   image: postgres:18.6-alpine # or the current 18 minor
+   volumes:
+     - pgdata18:/var/lib/postgresql
+   ```
+
+   and add the new volume next to `pgdata` in the top-level `volumes:` block:
+
+   ```yaml
+   volumes:
+     pgdata:
+     pgdata18:
+   ```
+
+```bash
+# 5. Start the new database and wait until it reports healthy.
+docker compose up -d db
+docker compose ps db
+
+# 6. Restore the dump into it.
+docker compose exec -T db pg_restore -U healthlog -d healthlog --no-owner \
+  < healthlog-pg16-<date>.dump
+
+# 7. Start the app and confirm it.
+docker compose up -d app
+curl -s http://localhost:3000/api/version
+```
+
+The start log should say there are no pending migrations: the dump carried the
+migration history with it. Sign in and open a few pages before you go on.
+
+## Afterwards
+
+Keep the old `pgdata` volume and the dump until the new database has run for a
+few days. Going back means restoring the old `image:` and `volumes:` lines;
+the old volume still holds the database as it was before step 2. When you are
+sure, remove it (`docker volume ls` shows its full name, prefixed with the
+compose project):
+
+```bash
+docker volume rm <project>_pgdata
+```
+
+If you had run `CREATE EXTENSION pg_stat_statements;` for
+[query statistics](query-statistics.md), the dump carries it and the compose
+`command:` still loads the library, so nothing needs doing there.
+
+`pg_upgrade --link` is faster on a very large database, but it needs both
+majors' binaries in one container; for a personal health record the dump is
+seconds to minutes and has nothing to set up.
diff --git a/docs/self-hosting/getting-started.md b/docs/self-hosting/getting-started.md
index 071f83a1a..e9cd933a8 100644
--- a/docs/self-hosting/getting-started.md
+++ b/docs/self-hosting/getting-started.md
@@ -393,6 +393,10 @@ curl -s http://localhost:3000/api/version
 Keep the dump until the new version has run for a few days, and keep your
 encryption key with it: a dump without the key cannot be read.
 
+The database image is a separate matter: a new Postgres minor is a change of
+the `image:` line, a new major (16 to 18) is a dump and restore, described in
+[`docs/ops/postgres-major-upgrade.md`](../ops/postgres-major-upgrade.md).
+
 The start log says what is about to happen before the migrations run:
 
 ```text