diff --git a/modules/services/monitoring/zabbix-server.nix b/modules/services/monitoring/zabbix-server.nix
index 0dc3aaf75f5..9f875d455de 100644
--- a/modules/services/monitoring/zabbix-server.nix
+++ b/modules/services/monitoring/zabbix-server.nix
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ in
 
   config = mkIf cfg.enable {
 
-    services.postgresql.enable = true;
+    services.postgresql.enable = cfg.dbServer == "localhost";
 
     users.extraUsers = singleton
       { name = "zabbix";