diff --git a/src/dbup-postgresql/DataSourceConnectionFactory.cs b/src/dbup-postgresql/DataSourceConnectionFactory.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..56c0a12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/dbup-postgresql/DataSourceConnectionFactory.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+using System;
+using System.Data;
+using DbUp.Engine.Output;
+using DbUp.Engine.Transactions;
+using Npgsql;
+
+namespace DbUp.Postgresql;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// A connection factory that uses Npgsql's data source pattern to create PostgreSQL database connections.
+/// This factory provides better performance and resource management compared to traditional connection strings
+/// by reusing configured data sources and connection pooling.
+/// </summary>
+internal class DataSourceConnectionFactory : IConnectionFactory
+{
+
+    private readonly NpgsqlDataSource dataSource;
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="DataSourceConnectionFactory"/> class.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="connectionString">The PostgreSQL connection string used to configure the data source.</param>
+    /// <param name="connectionOptions">Additional connection options including SSL certificate configuration.</param>
+    /// <exception cref="System.ArgumentNullException">Thrown when <paramref name="connectionString"/> or <paramref name="connectionOptions"/> is null.</exception>
+    /// <exception cref="System.ArgumentException">Thrown when <paramref name="connectionString"/> is empty or invalid.</exception>
+    public DataSourceConnectionFactory(string connectionString, PostgresqlConnectionOptions connectionOptions)
+    {
+        if (connectionString == null)
+        {
+            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(connectionString));
+        }
+        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(connectionString))
+        {
+            throw new ArgumentException("Connection string cannot be empty.", nameof(connectionString));
+        }
+        if (connectionOptions == null)
+        {
+            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(connectionOptions));
+        }
+        var builder = new NpgsqlDataSourceBuilder(connectionString);
+        
+#if NET8_0_OR_GREATER
+        // Use the new SSL authentication callback API for .NET 8.0 with Npgsql 9
+        if (connectionOptions.ClientCertificate != null || connectionOptions.UserCertificateValidationCallback != null)
+        {
+            builder.UseSslClientAuthenticationOptionsCallback(options =>
+            {
+                if (connectionOptions.ClientCertificate != null)
+                {
+                    options.ClientCertificates = new System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509CertificateCollection
+                    {
+                        connectionOptions.ClientCertificate
+                    };
+                }
+                if (connectionOptions.UserCertificateValidationCallback != null)
+                {
+                    options.RemoteCertificateValidationCallback = connectionOptions.UserCertificateValidationCallback;
+                }
+            });
+        }
+#else
+        // Use legacy API for netstandard2.0 with Npgsql 8
+        if (connectionOptions.ClientCertificate != null)
+        {
+            builder.UseClientCertificate(connectionOptions.ClientCertificate);
+        }
+        if (connectionOptions.UserCertificateValidationCallback != null)
+        {
+            builder.UseUserCertificateValidationCallback(connectionOptions.UserCertificateValidationCallback);
+        }
+#endif
+        dataSource = builder.Build();
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Creates a new database connection using the configured data source.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="upgradeLog">The upgrade log for recording connection-related messages. This parameter is not used in this implementation.</param>
+    /// <param name="databaseConnectionManager">The database connection manager. This parameter is not used in this implementation.</param>
+    /// <returns>A new <see cref="IDbConnection"/> instance ready for use.</returns>
+    /// <remarks>
+    /// The returned connection is not automatically opened. The caller is responsible for opening and properly disposing of the connection.
+    /// The connection benefits from the data source's connection pooling and configuration reuse.
+    /// </remarks>
+    public IDbConnection CreateConnection(IUpgradeLog upgradeLog, DatabaseConnectionManager databaseConnectionManager) => dataSource.CreateConnection();
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Creates a new database connection using the configured data source.
+    /// Simpler implementation of <see cref="CreateConnection(IUpgradeLog, DatabaseConnectionManager)"/>  for internal use. 
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <returns>A new <see cref="IDbConnection"/> instance ready for use.</returns>
+    internal NpgsqlConnection CreateConnection() => dataSource.CreateConnection();
+}
diff --git a/src/dbup-postgresql/PostgresqlConnectionManager.cs b/src/dbup-postgresql/PostgresqlConnectionManager.cs
index b30bea3..14eeea1 100644
--- a/src/dbup-postgresql/PostgresqlConnectionManager.cs
+++ b/src/dbup-postgresql/PostgresqlConnectionManager.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates;
 using DbUp.Engine.Transactions;
@@ -15,7 +16,7 @@ public class PostgresqlConnectionManager : DatabaseConnectionManager
     /// Disallow single quotes to be escaped with a backslash (\')
     /// </summary>
     public bool StandardConformingStrings { get; set; } = true;
-
+    
     /// <summary>
     /// Creates a new PostgreSQL database connection.
     /// </summary>
@@ -44,14 +45,7 @@ public PostgresqlConnectionManager(string connectionString, X509Certificate2 cer
     /// <param name="connectionString">The PostgreSQL connection string.</param>
     /// <param name="connectionOptions">Custom options to apply on the created connection</param>
     public PostgresqlConnectionManager(string connectionString, PostgresqlConnectionOptions connectionOptions)
-        : base(new DelegateConnectionFactory(l =>
-            {
-                NpgsqlConnection databaseConnection = new NpgsqlConnection(connectionString);
-                databaseConnection.ApplyConnectionOptions(connectionOptions);
-
-                return databaseConnection;
-            }
-        ))
+        : base(new DataSourceConnectionFactory(connectionString, connectionOptions))
     {
     }
 
@@ -78,4 +72,4 @@ public override IEnumerable<string> SplitScriptIntoCommands(string scriptContent
 
         return scriptStatements;
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/src/dbup-postgresql/PostgresqlExtensions.cs b/src/dbup-postgresql/PostgresqlExtensions.cs
index 5aef97b..f6ed796 100644
--- a/src/dbup-postgresql/PostgresqlExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/dbup-postgresql/PostgresqlExtensions.cs
@@ -194,42 +194,40 @@ PostgresqlConnectionOptions connectionOptions
 
         logger.LogDebug("Master ConnectionString => {0}", logMasterConnectionStringBuilder.ConnectionString);
 
-        using (var connection = new NpgsqlConnection(masterConnectionStringBuilder.ConnectionString))
+        var factory = new DataSourceConnectionFactory(masterConnectionStringBuilder.ConnectionString, connectionOptions);
+        using var connection = factory.CreateConnection();
+        connection.Open();
+
+        var sqlCommandText =
+            $"SELECT case WHEN oid IS NOT NULL THEN 1 ELSE 0 end FROM pg_database WHERE datname = '{databaseName}' limit 1;";
+
+        // check to see if the database already exists..
+        using (var command = new NpgsqlCommand(sqlCommandText, connection)
+               {
+                   CommandType = CommandType.Text
+               })
         {
-            connection.ApplyConnectionOptions(connectionOptions);
-            connection.Open();
+            var results = Convert.ToInt32(command.ExecuteScalar());
 
-            var sqlCommandText =
-                $@"SELECT case WHEN oid IS NOT NULL THEN 1 ELSE 0 end FROM pg_database WHERE datname = '{databaseName}' limit 1;";
-
-            // check to see if the database already exists..
-            using (var command = new NpgsqlCommand(sqlCommandText, connection)
-            {
-                CommandType = CommandType.Text
-            })
+            // if the database exists, we're done here...
+            if (results == 1)
             {
-                var results = Convert.ToInt32(command.ExecuteScalar());
-
-                // if the database exists, we're done here...
-                if (results == 1)
-                {
-                    return;
-                }
+                return;
             }
+        }
 
-            sqlCommandText = $"create database \"{databaseName}\";";
-
-            // Create the database...
-            using (var command = new NpgsqlCommand(sqlCommandText, connection)
-            {
-                CommandType = CommandType.Text
-            })
-            {
-                command.ExecuteNonQuery();
-            }
+        sqlCommandText = $"create database \"{databaseName}\";";
 
-            logger.LogInformation(@"Created database {0}", databaseName);
+        // Create the database...
+        using (var command = new NpgsqlCommand(sqlCommandText, connection)
+               {
+                   CommandType = CommandType.Text
+               })
+        {
+            command.ExecuteNonQuery();
         }
+
+        logger.LogInformation(@"Created database {0}", databaseName);
     }
 
     /// <summary>
@@ -244,16 +242,4 @@ public static UpgradeEngineBuilder JournalToPostgresqlTable(this UpgradeEngineBu
         builder.Configure(c => c.Journal = new PostgresqlTableJournal(() => c.ConnectionManager, () => c.Log, schema, table));
         return builder;
     }
-
-    internal static void ApplyConnectionOptions(this NpgsqlConnection connection, PostgresqlConnectionOptions connectionOptions)
-    {
-        connection.SslClientAuthenticationOptionsCallback = options =>
-        {
-            if (connectionOptions?.ClientCertificate != null)
-                options.ClientCertificates = new X509Certificate2Collection(connectionOptions.ClientCertificate);
-
-            if (connectionOptions?.UserCertificateValidationCallback != null)
-                options.RemoteCertificateValidationCallback = connectionOptions.UserCertificateValidationCallback;
-        };
-    }
 }
diff --git a/src/dbup-postgresql/dbup-postgresql.csproj b/src/dbup-postgresql/dbup-postgresql.csproj
index f121447..e6df8c2 100644
--- a/src/dbup-postgresql/dbup-postgresql.csproj
+++ b/src/dbup-postgresql/dbup-postgresql.csproj
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     <Company>DbUp Contributors</Company>
     <Product>DbUp</Product>
     <Copyright>Copyright © DbUp Contributors 2015</Copyright>
-    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
+    <TargetFrameworks>netstandard2.0;net8.0</TargetFrameworks>
     <AssemblyName>dbup-postgresql</AssemblyName>
     <RootNamespace>DbUp.Postgresql</RootNamespace>
     <PackageId>dbup-postgresql</PackageId>
@@ -24,7 +24,14 @@
 
   <ItemGroup>
     <PackageReference Include="dbup-core" Version="6.0.4" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Npgsql" Version="9.0.2" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+
+  <ItemGroup Condition="'$(TargetFramework)' == 'netstandard2.0'">
+    <PackageReference Include="Npgsql" Version="8.0.7" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+
+  <ItemGroup Condition="'$(TargetFramework)' == 'net8.0'">
+    <PackageReference Include="Npgsql" Version="9.0.3" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>