diff --git a/README.adoc b/README.adoc
index 7d988f9107..1eb2f03915 100644
--- a/README.adoc
+++ b/README.adoc
@@ -56,6 +56,22 @@ However, once these have been provided, the codebase should be buildable with `c
 
 **Prerequisites:**
 
+. Postgres
+
+Postgres is required to link against libpq for access to the database.
+
+(See https://github.com/oxidecomputer/omicron/issues/213 ; we may be able to remove this dependency long-term)
+
+Linux: `sudo apt-get install libpq-dev`
+Mac: `brew install postgresql`
+Helios: `pkg install library/postgresql-13`
+
+Additionally, to help all runtime commands find this library, we recommend the following:
+[source,text]
+----
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$(pg_config --libdir)"
+----
+
 . CockroachDB v20.2.5.
 +
 The test suite expects to be able to start a single-node CockroachDB cluster using the `cockroach` executable on your PATH.
diff --git a/smf/bootstrap-agent/manifest.xml b/smf/bootstrap-agent/manifest.xml
index d7da9b7fd2..97d4a75ce1 100644
--- a/smf/bootstrap-agent/manifest.xml
+++ b/smf/bootstrap-agent/manifest.xml
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@
     <service_fmri value='svc:/milestone/devices' />
   </dependency>
 
+  <method_context>
+    <method_environment>
+      <envvar name="LD_LIBRARY_PATH" value="/opt/ooce/pgsql-13/lib/amd64" />
+    </method_environment>
+  </method_context>
   <exec_method type='method' name='start'
     exec='ctrun -l child -o noorphan,regent /opt/oxide/bootstrap-agent/bootstrap-agent run %{config/server_id} %{config/server_addr} &amp;'
     timeout_seconds='0' />
diff --git a/smf/nexus/manifest.xml b/smf/nexus/manifest.xml
index 5021d79f34..2f3905dc77 100644
--- a/smf/nexus/manifest.xml
+++ b/smf/nexus/manifest.xml
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@
   <service_fmri value='svc:/system/illumos/bootstrap-agent' />
   </dependency>
 
+  <method_context>
+    <method_environment>
+      <envvar name="LD_LIBRARY_PATH" value="/opt/ooce/pgsql-13/lib/amd64" />
+    </method_environment>
+  </method_context>
   <exec_method type='method' name='start'
     exec='ctrun -l child -o noorphan,regent /opt/oxide/nexus/nexus /opt/oxide/nexus/pkg/config.toml &amp;'
     timeout_seconds='0' />
diff --git a/smf/oximeter/manifest.xml b/smf/oximeter/manifest.xml
index a588bd8446..9801c467ed 100644
--- a/smf/oximeter/manifest.xml
+++ b/smf/oximeter/manifest.xml
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@
   <service_fmri value='svc:/system/illumos/bootstrap-agent' />
   </dependency>
 
+  <method_context>
+    <method_environment>
+      <envvar name="LD_LIBRARY_PATH" value="/opt/ooce/pgsql-13/lib/amd64" />
+    </method_environment>
+  </method_context>
   <exec_method type='method' name='start'
     exec='ctrun -l child -o noorphan,regent /opt/oxide/oximeter/oximeter ./config.toml &amp;'
     timeout_seconds='0' />
diff --git a/smf/propolis-server/manifest.xml b/smf/propolis-server/manifest.xml
index 8ec7c82757..f838f4b89e 100644
--- a/smf/propolis-server/manifest.xml
+++ b/smf/propolis-server/manifest.xml
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@
   <service_fmri value='svc:/milestone/network:default' />
   </dependency>
 
+  <method_context>
+    <method_environment>
+      <envvar name="LD_LIBRARY_PATH" value="/opt/ooce/pgsql-13/lib/amd64" />
+    </method_environment>
+  </method_context>
   <exec_method type='method' name='start'
     exec='ctrun -l child -o noorphan,regent /opt/oxide/propolis-server/propolis-server /opt/oxide/propolis-server/pkg/config.toml %{config/server_addr} &amp;'
     timeout_seconds='0' />
diff --git a/smf/sled-agent/manifest.xml b/smf/sled-agent/manifest.xml
index 51376acb8a..d3063a8e2d 100644
--- a/smf/sled-agent/manifest.xml
+++ b/smf/sled-agent/manifest.xml
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@
   <service_fmri value='svc:/system/illumos/bootstrap-agent' />
   </dependency>
 
+  <method_context>
+    <method_environment>
+      <envvar name="LD_LIBRARY_PATH" value="/opt/ooce/pgsql-13/lib/amd64" />
+    </method_environment>
+  </method_context>
   <exec_method type='method' name='start'
     exec='ctrun -l child -o noorphan,regent /opt/oxide/sled-agent/sled-agent run %{svc:/system/illumos/bootstrap-agent:default/:properties/config/server_id} %{config/server_addr} %{config/nexus_addr} &amp;'
     timeout_seconds='0' />