diff --git a/terraform/stacks/tooling/stack.tf b/terraform/stacks/tooling/stack.tf
index 933a48be..2f416c07 100644
--- a/terraform/stacks/tooling/stack.tf
+++ b/terraform/stacks/tooling/stack.tf
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ module "defectdojo_staging" {
   rds_security_groups             = [module.stack.rds_postgres_security_group]
   rds_parameter_group_name        = "tooling-defectdojo-staging"
   rds_parameter_group_family      = var.rds_parameter_group_family
-  rds_db_engine_version           = var.rds_db_engine_version
+  rds_db_engine_version           = var.rds_db_engine_version_defectdojo_staging
   rds_apply_immediately           = var.rds_apply_immediately
   rds_allow_major_version_upgrade = var.rds_allow_major_version_upgrade
   rds_instance_type               = "db.m5.large"
diff --git a/terraform/stacks/tooling/variables.tf b/terraform/stacks/tooling/variables.tf
index 8f716392..92ce9e34 100644
--- a/terraform/stacks/tooling/variables.tf
+++ b/terraform/stacks/tooling/variables.tf
@@ -276,3 +276,7 @@ variable "aws_lb_listener_ssl_policy" {
   type    = string
   default = "ELBSecurityPolicy-TLS13-1-2-Ext1-2021-06"
 }
+
+variable "rds_db_engine_version_defectdojo_staging" {
+  default = "16.3"
+}