diff --git a/services/Directory/FilterLists.Directory.Infrastructure/ConfigurationExtensions.cs b/services/Directory/FilterLists.Directory.Infrastructure/ConfigurationExtensions.cs
index 4125210b4..d30e3d787 100644
--- a/services/Directory/FilterLists.Directory.Infrastructure/ConfigurationExtensions.cs
+++ b/services/Directory/FilterLists.Directory.Infrastructure/ConfigurationExtensions.cs
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 using FilterLists.Directory.Infrastructure.Persistence.Queries;
 using FilterLists.Directory.Infrastructure.Persistence.Queries.Context;
 using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
-using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting;
 
@@ -13,25 +12,17 @@ public static class ConfigurationExtensions
 
     public static void AddInfrastructure(this IHostApplicationBuilder builder)
     {
-        // Get connection string from configuration
-        var connectionString = builder.Configuration.GetConnectionString("directorydb")
-            ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("Connection string 'directorydb' not found.");
-
-        // Register DbContext with standard EF Core configuration
-        builder.Services.AddDbContext<QueryDbContext>(options =>
-        {
-            options.UseSqlServer(connectionString, sqlServerOptions =>
-            {
-                // retry on Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.SqlException (0x80131904): A connection was successfully established with the server, but then an error occurred during the pre-login handshake. (provider: TCP Provider, error: 0 - Undefined error: 0)
-                sqlServerOptions.EnableRetryOnFailure(errorNumbersToAdd: [0]);
-                sqlServerOptions.MigrationsAssembly(MigrationsAssembly);
-            });
-            
-            options.UseQueryTrackingBehavior(QueryTrackingBehavior.NoTracking);
-            options.EnableSensitiveDataLogging(string.Equals(
-                Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("DOTNET_RUNNING_EF_CORE_TOOLS"), "true",
-                StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
-        });
+        // TODO: use different connection strings for migrations and queries (https://stackoverflow.com/q/78564037/2343739)
+        builder.AddSqlServerDbContext<QueryDbContext>("directorydb",
+            _ => { },
+            o => o.UseSqlServer(so =>
+                    // retry on Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.SqlException (0x80131904): A connection was successfully established with the server, but then an error occurred during the pre-login handshake. (provider: TCP Provider, error: 0 - Undefined error: 0)
+                    so.EnableRetryOnFailure([0])
+                        .MigrationsAssembly(MigrationsAssembly))
+                .UseQueryTrackingBehavior(QueryTrackingBehavior.NoTracking)
+                .EnableSensitiveDataLogging(string.Equals(
+                    Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("DOTNET_RUNNING_EF_CORE_TOOLS"), "true",
+                    StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)));
 
         builder.Services.AddHostedService<MigrationService>();
     }
diff --git a/services/Directory/FilterLists.Directory.Infrastructure/FilterLists.Directory.Infrastructure.csproj b/services/Directory/FilterLists.Directory.Infrastructure/FilterLists.Directory.Infrastructure.csproj
index 6df5ebd09..f4b50a7f1 100644
--- a/services/Directory/FilterLists.Directory.Infrastructure/FilterLists.Directory.Infrastructure.csproj
+++ b/services/Directory/FilterLists.Directory.Infrastructure/FilterLists.Directory.Infrastructure.csproj
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     </PropertyGroup>
 
     <ItemGroup>
-        <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer" Version="8.0.22"/>
+        <PackageReference Include="Aspire.Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer" Version="9.5.2"/>
     </ItemGroup>
 
 </Project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/services/FilterLists.AppHost/FilterLists.AppHost.csproj b/services/FilterLists.AppHost/FilterLists.AppHost.csproj
index 8835b19ce..723590edb 100644
--- a/services/FilterLists.AppHost/FilterLists.AppHost.csproj
+++ b/services/FilterLists.AppHost/FilterLists.AppHost.csproj
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
 
-    <Sdk Name="Aspire.AppHost.Sdk" Version="13.0.0" />
+    <Sdk Name="Aspire.AppHost.Sdk" Version="9.5.2" />
 
     <PropertyGroup>
         <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@
     </ItemGroup>
 
     <ItemGroup>
-        <PackageReference Include="Aspire.Hosting.AppHost" Version="13.0.0" />
-        <PackageReference Include="Aspire.Hosting.SqlServer" Version="13.0.0" />
+        <PackageReference Include="Aspire.Hosting.AppHost" Version="9.5.2" />
+        <PackageReference Include="Aspire.Hosting.SqlServer" Version="9.5.2" />
     <PackageReference Include="KubernetesClient" Version="18.0.5" />
     </ItemGroup>