diff --git a/cli/server.go b/cli/server.go
index 6edd14b7d5..b12f5e0189 100644
--- a/cli/server.go
+++ b/cli/server.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
+	"testing"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/charmbracelet/lipgloss"
@@ -1377,6 +1378,7 @@ func IsLocalURL(ctx context.Context, u *url.URL) (bool, error) {
 }
 
 func shutdownWithTimeout(shutdown func(context.Context) error, timeout time.Duration) error {
+	// nolint:gocritic // The magic number is parameterized.
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), timeout)
 	defer cancel()
 	return shutdown(ctx)
@@ -2134,50 +2136,83 @@ func startBuiltinPostgres(ctx context.Context, cfg config.Root, logger slog.Logg
 		return "", nil, xerrors.New("The built-in PostgreSQL cannot run as the root user. Create a non-root user and run again!")
 	}
 
-	// Ensure a password and port have been generated!
-	connectionURL, err := embeddedPostgresURL(cfg)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", nil, err
-	}
-	pgPassword, err := cfg.PostgresPassword().Read()
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", nil, xerrors.Errorf("read postgres password: %w", err)
-	}
-	pgPortRaw, err := cfg.PostgresPort().Read()
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", nil, xerrors.Errorf("read postgres port: %w", err)
-	}
-	pgPort, err := strconv.ParseUint(pgPortRaw, 10, 16)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", nil, xerrors.Errorf("parse postgres port: %w", err)
-	}
-
 	cachePath := filepath.Join(cfg.PostgresPath(), "cache")
 	if customCacheDir != "" {
 		cachePath = filepath.Join(customCacheDir, "postgres")
 	}
 	stdlibLogger := slog.Stdlib(ctx, logger.Named("postgres"), slog.LevelDebug)
-	ep := embeddedpostgres.NewDatabase(
-		embeddedpostgres.DefaultConfig().
-			Version(embeddedpostgres.V13).
-			BinariesPath(filepath.Join(cfg.PostgresPath(), "bin")).
-			// Default BinaryRepositoryURL repo1.maven.org is flaky.
-			BinaryRepositoryURL("https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2").
-			DataPath(filepath.Join(cfg.PostgresPath(), "data")).
-			RuntimePath(filepath.Join(cfg.PostgresPath(), "runtime")).
-			CachePath(cachePath).
-			Username("coder").
-			Password(pgPassword).
-			Database("coder").
-			Encoding("UTF8").
-			Port(uint32(pgPort)).
-			Logger(stdlibLogger.Writer()),
-	)
-	err = ep.Start()
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", nil, xerrors.Errorf("Failed to start built-in PostgreSQL. Optionally, specify an external deployment with `--postgres-url`: %w", err)
+
+	// If the port is not defined, an available port will be found dynamically.
+	maxAttempts := 1
+	_, err = cfg.PostgresPort().Read()
+	retryPortDiscovery := errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) && testing.Testing()
+	if retryPortDiscovery {
+		// There is no way to tell Postgres to use an ephemeral port, so in order to avoid
+		// flaky tests in CI we need to retry EmbeddedPostgres.Start in case of a race
+		// condition where the port we quickly listen on and close in embeddedPostgresURL()
+		// is not free by the time the embedded postgres starts up. This maximum_should
+		// cover most cases where port conflicts occur in CI and cause flaky tests.
+		maxAttempts = 3
 	}
-	return connectionURL, ep.Stop, nil
+
+	var startErr error
+	for attempt := 0; attempt < maxAttempts; attempt++ {
+		// Ensure a password and port have been generated.
+		connectionURL, err := embeddedPostgresURL(cfg)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", nil, err
+		}
+		pgPassword, err := cfg.PostgresPassword().Read()
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", nil, xerrors.Errorf("read postgres password: %w", err)
+		}
+		pgPortRaw, err := cfg.PostgresPort().Read()
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", nil, xerrors.Errorf("read postgres port: %w", err)
+		}
+		pgPort, err := strconv.ParseUint(pgPortRaw, 10, 16)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", nil, xerrors.Errorf("parse postgres port: %w", err)
+		}
+
+		ep := embeddedpostgres.NewDatabase(
+			embeddedpostgres.DefaultConfig().
+				Version(embeddedpostgres.V13).
+				BinariesPath(filepath.Join(cfg.PostgresPath(), "bin")).
+				// Default BinaryRepositoryURL repo1.maven.org is flaky.
+				BinaryRepositoryURL("https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2").
+				DataPath(filepath.Join(cfg.PostgresPath(), "data")).
+				RuntimePath(filepath.Join(cfg.PostgresPath(), "runtime")).
+				CachePath(cachePath).
+				Username("coder").
+				Password(pgPassword).
+				Database("coder").
+				Encoding("UTF8").
+				Port(uint32(pgPort)).
+				Logger(stdlibLogger.Writer()),
+		)
+
+		startErr = ep.Start()
+		if startErr == nil {
+			return connectionURL, ep.Stop, nil
+		}
+
+		logger.Warn(ctx, "failed to start embedded postgres",
+			slog.F("attempt", attempt+1),
+			slog.F("max_attempts", maxAttempts),
+			slog.F("port", pgPort),
+			slog.Error(startErr),
+		)
+
+		if retryPortDiscovery {
+			// Since a retry is needed, we wipe the port stored here at the beginning of the loop.
+			_ = cfg.PostgresPort().Delete()
+		}
+	}
+
+	return "", nil, xerrors.Errorf("failed to start built-in PostgreSQL after %d attempts. "+
+		"Optionally, specify an external deployment. See https://coder.com/docs/tutorials/external-database "+
+		"for more details: %w", maxAttempts, startErr)
 }
 
 func ConfigureHTTPClient(ctx context.Context, clientCertFile, clientKeyFile string, tlsClientCAFile string) (context.Context, *http.Client, error) {
@@ -2286,7 +2321,7 @@ func ConnectToPostgres(ctx context.Context, logger slog.Logger, driver string, d
 	var err error
 	var sqlDB *sql.DB
 	dbNeedsClosing := true
-	// Try to connect for 30 seconds.
+	// nolint:gocritic // Try to connect for 30 seconds.
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 30*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
 
@@ -2382,6 +2417,7 @@ func ConnectToPostgres(ctx context.Context, logger slog.Logger, driver string, d
 }
 
 func pingPostgres(ctx context.Context, db *sql.DB) error {
+	// nolint:gocritic // This is a reasonable magic number for a ping timeout.
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 5*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
 	return db.PingContext(ctx)