diff --git a/backend/apps/core/utils.py b/backend/apps/core/utils.py
index 23e1c9a..d542366 100644
--- a/backend/apps/core/utils.py
+++ b/backend/apps/core/utils.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 )
 
 client = botocore.session.get_session().create_client(
-    "secretsmanager", region_name="us-east-1"
+    "secretsmanager", region_name=os.environ.get("AWS_REGION", "us-east-1")
 )
 cache = SecretCache(client=client)
 
diff --git a/backend/backend/settings/production.py b/backend/backend/settings/production.py
index 45f05a1..57fbfd8 100644
--- a/backend/backend/settings/production.py
+++ b/backend/backend/settings/production.py
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 from .base import *
 
+from apps.core.utils import from_secret
+
 DEBUG = 0
 
 DATABASES["default"]["OPTIONS"] = {
@@ -9,6 +11,8 @@
     "sslrootcert": "/usr/local/share/global-bundle.pem",
 }
 
+DATABASES["default"]["PASSWORD"] = from_secret()
+
 # add django-storages to INSTALLED_APPS
 INSTALLED_APPS += ("storages",)