diff --git a/ogion/backup_targets/postgresql.py b/ogion/backup_targets/postgresql.py
index f238306..2fe80a6 100644
--- a/ogion/backup_targets/postgresql.py
+++ b/ogion/backup_targets/postgresql.py
@@ -62,10 +62,20 @@ def _get_escaped_conn_uri(self) -> str:
         pgpass_file = self._init_pgpass_file()
         encoded_user = urllib.parse.quote_plus(self.target_model.user)
         encoded_db = urllib.parse.quote_plus(self.target_model.db)
+
+        params = {"passfile": pgpass_file}
+        if self.target_model.model_extra is not None:
+            for param, value in self.target_model.model_extra.items():
+                params[param] = value
+
+        log.debug("psql connection params: %s", params)
+
         uri = (
             f"postgresql://{encoded_user}@{self.target_model.host}:{self.target_model.port}/{encoded_db}?"
-            f"passfile={pgpass_file}"
-        )
+        ) + urllib.parse.urlencode(params)
+
+        log.debug("psql connection url: %s", uri)
+
         escaped_uri = shlex.quote(uri)
         return escaped_uri
 
diff --git a/ogion/core.py b/ogion/core.py
index 83cdd9e..c3d0050 100644
--- a/ogion/core.py
+++ b/ogion/core.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 
 SAFE_LETTER_PATTERN = re.compile(r"[^A-Za-z0-9_]*")
 DATETIME_BACKUP_FILE_PATTERN = re.compile(r"_[0-9]{8}_[0-9]{4}_")
+MODEL_SPLIT_EQUATION_PATTERN = re.compile(r"( \w*\=|^\w*\=)")
 
 _BM = TypeVar("_BM", bound=BaseModel)
 
@@ -116,26 +117,24 @@ def _validate_model(
     env_name: str,
     env_value: str,
     target: type[_BM],
-    value_whitespace_split: bool = False,
 ) -> _BM:
     target_name: str = target.__name__.lower()
     log.info("validating %s variable: `%s`", target_name, env_name)
     log.debug("%s=%s", target_name, env_value)
     try:
         env_value_parts = env_value.strip()
+        fields_matches = [
+            match.group()
+            for match in MODEL_SPLIT_EQUATION_PATTERN.finditer(env_value_parts)
+        ]
         target_kwargs: dict[str, Any] = {"env_name": env_name}
-        for field_name in target.model_fields.keys():
-            if env_value_parts.startswith(f"{field_name}="):
-                f = f"{field_name}="
-            else:
-                f = f" {field_name}="
-            if f in env_value_parts:
-                _, val = env_value_parts.split(f, maxsplit=1)
-                for other_field in target.model_fields.keys():
-                    val = val.split(f" {other_field}=")[0]
-                if value_whitespace_split:
-                    val = val.split()[0]
-                target_kwargs[field_name] = val
+
+        while fields_matches:
+            field_match = fields_matches.pop()
+            rest, value = env_value_parts.split(field_match, maxsplit=1)
+            env_value_parts = rest.rstrip()
+            target_kwargs[field_match.removesuffix("=").strip()] = value
+
         log.debug("calculated arguments: %s", target_kwargs)
         validated_target = target.model_validate(target_kwargs)
     except Exception:
@@ -173,7 +172,6 @@ def create_provider_model() -> upload_provider_models.ProviderModel:
         "backup_provider",
         config.options.BACKUP_PROVIDER,
         upload_provider_models.ProviderModel,
-        value_whitespace_split=True,
     )
     target_model_cls = provider_map[base_provider.name]
     return _validate_model(
diff --git a/ogion/models/backup_target_models.py b/ogion/models/backup_target_models.py
index af10c4d..66accca 100644
--- a/ogion/models/backup_target_models.py
+++ b/ogion/models/backup_target_models.py
@@ -45,6 +45,10 @@ class PostgreSQLTargetModel(TargetModel):
     db: str = "postgres"
     password: SecretStr
 
+    model_config = ConfigDict(
+        extra="allow",
+    )
+
 
 class MariaDBTargetModel(TargetModel):
     name: config.BackupTargetEnum = config.BackupTargetEnum.MARIADB
@@ -54,6 +58,10 @@ class MariaDBTargetModel(TargetModel):
     db: str = "mariadb"
     password: SecretStr
 
+    model_config = ConfigDict(
+        extra="allow",
+    )
+
 
 class SingleFileTargetModel(TargetModel):
     name: config.BackupTargetEnum = config.BackupTargetEnum.FILE
diff --git a/tests/test_core.py b/tests/test_core.py
index d526348..f024a05 100644
--- a/tests/test_core.py
+++ b/tests/test_core.py
@@ -195,6 +195,16 @@ def test_run_create_age_archive_can_be_decrypted(
         ],
         True,
     ),
+    (
+        [
+            (
+                "POSTGRESQL_FIRST_DB",
+                "host=localhost port5432 password=secret "
+                "cron_rule=* * * * * ssl_mode=require",
+            ),
+        ],
+        True,
+    ),
 ]