diff --git a/agents/k8s/gumbo-externalsecrets.yaml b/agents/k8s/gumbo-externalsecrets.yaml
index 9b36645..4f7095e 100644
--- a/agents/k8s/gumbo-externalsecrets.yaml
+++ b/agents/k8s/gumbo-externalsecrets.yaml
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ spec:
     - secretKey: uri
       remoteRef:
         key: GUMBO_DB_URI
+        decodingStrategy: Base64
 ---
 apiVersion: external-secrets.io/v1beta1
 kind: ExternalSecret
@@ -64,3 +65,4 @@ spec:
     - secretKey: dsn
       remoteRef:
         key: GUMBO_DB_URI
+        decodingStrategy: Base64
diff --git a/ai-core/temporal/externalsecret-db-creds.yaml b/ai-core/temporal/externalsecret-db-creds.yaml
index 03a6827..24a02f3 100644
--- a/ai-core/temporal/externalsecret-db-creds.yaml
+++ b/ai-core/temporal/externalsecret-db-creds.yaml
@@ -23,3 +23,4 @@ spec:
     - secretKey: password
       remoteRef:
         key: TEMPORAL_DB_PASSWORD
+        decodingStrategy: Base64