diff --git a/pkg/detectors/postgres/postgres.go b/pkg/detectors/postgres/postgres.go
index 8465bc073a93..f22542e341b2 100644
--- a/pkg/detectors/postgres/postgres.go
+++ b/pkg/detectors/postgres/postgres.go
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ func (s Scanner) FromData(ctx context.Context, verify bool, data []byte) ([]dete
 	var results []detectors.Result
 	var pgURLs []url.URL
 	pgURLs = append(pgURLs, findUriMatches(string(data)))
-	pgURLs = append(pgURLs, findComponentMatches(string(data))...)
+	pgURLs = append(pgURLs, findComponentMatches(verify, string(data))...)
 
 	for _, pgURL := range pgURLs {
 		if pgURL.User == nil {
@@ -81,7 +81,18 @@ func findUriMatches(dataStr string) url.URL {
 	return pgURL
 }
 
-func findComponentMatches(dataStr string) []url.URL {
+// check if postgres is running
+func postgresRunning(hostname, port string) bool {
+	connStr := fmt.Sprintf("host=%s port=%s sslmode=disable", hostname, port)
+	db, err := sql.Open("postgres", connStr)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	defer db.Close()
+	return true
+}
+
+func findComponentMatches(verify bool, dataStr string) []url.URL {
 	usernameMatches := common.UsernameRegexCheck("").Matches([]byte(dataStr))
 	passwordMatches := common.PasswordRegexCheck("").Matches([]byte(dataStr))
 	hostnameMatches := hostnamePattern.FindAllStringSubmatch(dataStr, -1)
@@ -89,33 +100,19 @@ func findComponentMatches(dataStr string) []url.URL {
 
 	var pgURLs []url.URL
 
-	for _, username := range usernameMatches {
-		if len(username) < 2 {
-			continue
-		}
-		for _, password := range passwordMatches {
-			if len(password) < 2 {
-				continue
-			}
-			for _, hostname := range hostnameMatches {
-				if len(hostname) < 2 {
-					continue
-				}
-				port := ""
-				for _, ports := range portMatches {
-					// this will only grab the last one if there are multiple
-					// TODO @0x1: enumerate found ports first
-					if len(ports) > 1 {
-						port = ports[1]
-					}
-				}
-				if combinedLength := len(username) + len(password) + len(hostname[1]); combinedLength > 255 {
+	hosts := findHosts(verify, hostnameMatches, portMatches)
+
+	for _, username := range dedupMatches(usernameMatches) {
+		for _, password := range dedupMatches(passwordMatches) {
+			for _, host := range hosts {
+				hostname, port := strings.Split(host, ":")[0], strings.Split(host, ":")[1]
+				if combinedLength := len(username) + len(password) + len(hostname); combinedLength > 255 {
 					continue
 				}
 				postgresURL := url.URL{
 					Scheme: "postgresql",
 					User:   url.UserPassword(username, password),
-					Host:   fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", hostname[1], port),
+					Host:   fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", hostname, port),
 				}
 				pgURLs = append(pgURLs, postgresURL)
 			}
@@ -124,6 +121,69 @@ func findComponentMatches(dataStr string) []url.URL {
 	return pgURLs
 }
 
+// if verification is turned on, and we are able to verify at least one host, return only verified hosts
+// otherwise return all hosts
+func findHosts(verify bool, hostnameMatches, portMatches [][]string) []string {
+	hostnames := dedupMatches2(hostnameMatches)
+	ports := dedupMatches2(portMatches)
+	var hosts []string
+
+	if len(hostnames) < 1 {
+		hostnames = append(hostnames, defaultHost)
+	}
+
+	if len(ports) < 1 {
+		ports = append(ports, defaultPort)
+	}
+
+	for _, hostname := range hostnames {
+		for _, port := range ports {
+			hosts = append(hosts, fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", hostname, port))
+		}
+	}
+
+	if verify {
+		var verifiedHosts []string
+		for _, host := range hosts {
+			hostname, port := strings.Split(host, ":")[0], strings.Split(host, ":")[1]
+			if postgresRunning(hostname, port) {
+				verifiedHosts = append(verifiedHosts, host)
+			}
+		}
+		if len(verifiedHosts) > 0 {
+			return verifiedHosts
+		}
+	}
+
+	return hosts
+}
+
+func dedupMatches(matches []string) []string {
+	setOfMatches := make(map[string]struct{})
+	for _, match := range matches {
+		setOfMatches[match] = struct{}{}
+	}
+	var results []string
+	for match := range setOfMatches {
+		results = append(results, match)
+	}
+	return results
+}
+
+func dedupMatches2(matches [][]string) []string {
+	setOfMatches := make(map[string]struct{})
+	for _, match := range matches {
+		if len(match) > 1 {
+			setOfMatches[match[1]] = struct{}{}
+		}
+	}
+	var results []string
+	for match := range setOfMatches {
+		results = append(results, match)
+	}
+	return results
+}
+
 func verifyPostgres(pgURL *url.URL) (bool, error) {
 	if pgURL.User == nil {
 		return false, nil
@@ -144,6 +204,10 @@ func verifyPostgres(pgURL *url.URL) (bool, error) {
 	connStr := fmt.Sprintf("user=%s password=%s host=%s port=%s sslmode=%s", username, password, hostname, port, sslmode)
 	db, err := sql.Open("postgres", connStr)
 	if err != nil {
+		if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "connection refused") {
+			// inactive host
+			return false, nil
+		}
 		return false, err
 	}
 	defer db.Close()
@@ -154,8 +218,8 @@ func verifyPostgres(pgURL *url.URL) (bool, error) {
 	err = db.PingContext(ctx)
 	if err == nil {
 		return true, nil
-	} else if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "password authentication failed") {
-		// incorrect username or password
+	} else if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "password authentication failed") || // incorrect username or password
+		strings.Contains(err.Error(), "connection refused") { // inactive host
 		return false, nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/detectors/postgres/postgres_test.go b/pkg/detectors/postgres/postgres_test.go
index ec170527ce17..c5be452473ca 100644
--- a/pkg/detectors/postgres/postgres_test.go
+++ b/pkg/detectors/postgres/postgres_test.go
@@ -136,6 +136,26 @@ func TestPostgres_FromChunk(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			wantErr: false,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "found with seperated credentials - no port, unverified",
+			s:    Scanner{},
+			args: args{
+				ctx: context.Background(),
+				data: []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`
+					POSTGRES_USER=%s
+					POSTGRES_PASSWORD=%s
+					POSTGRES_ADDRESS=%s
+					`, postgresUser, inactivePass, postgresHost)),
+				verify: true,
+			},
+			want: []detectors.Result{
+				{
+					DetectorType: detectorspb.DetectorType_Postgres,
+					Verified:     false,
+				},
+			},
+			wantErr: false,
+		},
 		{
 			name: "found with single line credentials, unverified",
 			s:    Scanner{},
@@ -199,12 +219,11 @@ func TestPostgres_FromChunk(t *testing.T) {
 					DetectorType: detectorspb.DetectorType_Postgres,
 					Verified:     false,
 				}
-				r.SetVerificationError(errors.New("connection refused"))
 				return []detectors.Result{r}
 			}(),
 			wantErr: false,
 		},
-		// TODO: This test seems take a long time to run (70s+) even with the timeout set to 1s. It's not clear why.
+		// This test seems take a long time to run (70s+) even with the timeout set to 1s. It's not clear why.
 		{
 			name: "found, unverified due to error - inactive host",
 			s:    Scanner{},