diff --git a/cmd/import_synapse/main.go b/cmd/import_synapse/main.go
index c370a1963ae52b82b4d986c6ddf0d44f65904a17..4a8fc03458e1eaf97076299d03d55a551e79aacd 100644
--- a/cmd/import_synapse/main.go
+++ b/cmd/import_synapse/main.go
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ func main() {
 	postgresDatabase := flag.String("dbName", "synapse", "The name of your Synapse database")
 	baseUrl := flag.String("baseUrl", "http://localhost:8008", "The base URL to access your homeserver with")
 	serverName := flag.String("serverName", "localhost", "The name of your homeserver (eg: matrix.org)")
-	configPath := flag.String("config", "media-repo.yaml", "The path to the media repo configuration (with the database section completed)")
+	configPath := flag.String("config", "media-repo.yaml", "The path to the media repo configuration (configured for the media repo's database)")
 	migrationsPath := flag.String("migrations", "./migrations", "The absolute path the media repo's migrations folder")
 	numWorkers := flag.Int("workers", 1, "The number of workers to use when downloading media. Using multiple workers risks deduplication not working as efficiently.")
 	flag.Parse()
diff --git a/config.sample.yaml b/config.sample.yaml
index c33432a572e300b0f2d7997a1094b5ef6c49b6a6..382a4a9a43b319b6641faff512dd894611fc15f8 100644
--- a/config.sample.yaml
+++ b/config.sample.yaml
@@ -29,9 +29,11 @@ federation:
   backoffAt: 20
 
 # The database configuration for the media repository
+# Do NOT put your homeserver's existing database credentials here. Create a new database and
+# user instead. Using the same server is fine, just not the same username and database.
 database:
   # Currently only "postgres" is supported.
-  postgres: "postgres://your_username:your_password@localhost/database_name?sslmode=disable"
+  postgres: "postgres://your_username:your_password@localhost/database_name?sslmode=require"
 
   # The database pooling options
   pool: