diff --git a/async_postgres/pg_connection.nim b/async_postgres/pg_connection.nim
index 9ae6d4d..2311d57 100644
--- a/async_postgres/pg_connection.nim
+++ b/async_postgres/pg_connection.nim
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ type
   SslMode* = enum
     ## SSL/TLS negotiation mode for the connection.
     sslDisable ## Disable SSL (default)
+    sslAllow ## Try plaintext; fall back to SSL if refused
     sslPrefer ## Try SSL; fall back to plaintext if refused
     sslRequire ## Require SSL (no certificate verification)
     sslVerifyCa ## Require SSL + verify CA chain (no hostname verification)
@@ -887,6 +888,25 @@ proc connectToHost(
     config: ConnConfig, hostAddr: string, hostPort: int
 ): Future[PgConnection] {.async.} =
   ## Connect to a single PostgreSQL host. Internal helper for multi-host connect.
+
+  if config.sslMode == sslAllow:
+    # sslAllow: try plaintext first, then fall back to SSL.
+    var plainConfig = config
+    plainConfig.sslMode = sslDisable
+    try:
+      return await connectToHost(plainConfig, hostAddr, hostPort)
+    except CancelledError as e:
+      raise e
+    except CatchableError:
+      # Plaintext failed — retry with SSL.
+      # WARNING: This is vulnerable to MITM downgrade attacks. A network
+      # attacker can force the first attempt to fail and then intercept
+      # the SSL connection. Use sslRequire or stronger if security is needed.
+      stderr.writeLine "pg_connection: plaintext connection failed, retrying with SSL (sslmode=allow)"
+      var sslConfig = config
+      sslConfig.sslMode = sslPrefer
+      return await connectToHost(sslConfig, hostAddr, hostPort)
+
   var conn: PgConnection
 
   let isUnix = isUnixSocket(hostAddr)
@@ -1583,6 +1603,8 @@ proc parseSslMode(s: string): SslMode =
   case s
   of "disable":
     sslDisable
+  of "allow":
+    sslAllow
   of "prefer":
     sslPrefer
   of "require":
diff --git a/tests/test_dsn.nim b/tests/test_dsn.nim
index 2b21f93..210d47a 100644
--- a/tests/test_dsn.nim
+++ b/tests/test_dsn.nim
@@ -76,11 +76,13 @@ suite "parseDsn":
     check cfg.database == "my/db"
 
   test "query param sslmode":
-    for mode in ["disable", "prefer", "require", "verify-ca", "verify-full"]:
+    for mode in ["disable", "allow", "prefer", "require", "verify-ca", "verify-full"]:
       let cfg = parseDsn("postgresql://host/db?sslmode=" & mode)
       case mode
       of "disable":
         check cfg.sslMode == sslDisable
+      of "allow":
+        check cfg.sslMode == sslAllow
       of "prefer":
         check cfg.sslMode == sslPrefer
       of "require":
diff --git a/tests/test_e2e.nim b/tests/test_e2e.nim
index 9c70bd5..4b8ce3c 100644
--- a/tests/test_e2e.nim
+++ b/tests/test_e2e.nim
@@ -315,6 +315,15 @@ suite "E2E: SSL Connection":
 
     waitFor t()
 
+  test "sslAllow connects without SSL when server accepts plaintext":
+    proc t() {.async.} =
+      let conn = await connect(sslConfig(sslAllow))
+      doAssert conn.state == csReady
+      doAssert conn.sslEnabled == false
+      await conn.close()
+
+    waitFor t()
+
   test "query over SSL connection":
     proc t() {.async.} =
       let conn = await connect(sslConfig(sslRequire))
diff --git a/tests/test_ssl.nim b/tests/test_ssl.nim
index 795f3f5..4c072d6 100644
--- a/tests/test_ssl.nim
+++ b/tests/test_ssl.nim
@@ -373,6 +373,10 @@ suite "SSL negotiation - sslVerifyCa":
     waitFor testBody()
     check raised
 
+  test "sslAllow ordinal is between sslDisable and sslPrefer":
+    check ord(sslAllow) > ord(sslDisable)
+    check ord(sslAllow) < ord(sslPrefer)
+
   test "sslVerifyCa ordinal is between sslRequire and sslVerifyFull":
     check ord(sslVerifyCa) > ord(sslRequire)
     check ord(sslVerifyCa) < ord(sslVerifyFull)
@@ -381,6 +385,119 @@ suite "SSL negotiation - sslVerifyCa":
     let config = ConnConfig()
     check config.sslRootCert == ""
 
+suite "SSL negotiation - sslAllow":
+  test "sslAllow connects without SSL when server accepts plaintext":
+    var connState: PgConnState
+    var connSslEnabled: bool
+
+    proc testBody() {.async.} =
+      let ms = startMockServer()
+
+      proc serverHandler() {.async.} =
+        let st = await ms.accept()
+        try:
+          await drainStartupMessage(st)
+          await sendAuthOkAndReady(st)
+          await drainUntilClose(st)
+        except CatchableError:
+          discard
+        await closeClient(st)
+
+      let serverFut = serverHandler()
+
+      let config = ConnConfig(
+        host: "127.0.0.1",
+        port: ms.port,
+        user: "test",
+        database: "test",
+        sslMode: sslAllow,
+      )
+
+      let conn = await connect(config)
+      connState = conn.state
+      connSslEnabled = conn.sslEnabled
+      await conn.close()
+
+      await serverFut
+      await closeServer(ms)
+
+    waitFor testBody()
+    check connState == csReady
+    check connSslEnabled == false
+
+  test "sslAllow retries with SSL when plaintext is rejected":
+    var connState: PgConnState
+    var connSslEnabled: bool
+    var attemptCount: int = 0
+
+    proc testBody() {.async.} =
+      let ms = startMockServer()
+
+      proc serverHandler() {.async.} =
+        # First connection: reject plaintext with FATAL error
+        block:
+          let st = await ms.accept()
+          attemptCount.inc
+          try:
+            discard await readN(st, 8) # read StartupMessage header
+            # Send FATAL error response (server requires SSL)
+            var body: seq[byte] = @[]
+            body.add(byte('S'))
+            for c in "FATAL":
+              body.add(byte(c))
+            body.add(0)
+            body.add(byte('M'))
+            for c in "no pg_hba.conf entry":
+              body.add(byte(c))
+            body.add(0)
+            body.add(0) # terminator
+            var msg: seq[byte] = @[byte('E')]
+            msg.addInt32(int32(4 + body.len))
+            msg.add(body)
+            await sendBytes(st, msg)
+          except CatchableError:
+            discard
+          await closeClient(st)
+
+        # Second connection: accept SSL and complete handshake
+        block:
+          let st = await ms.accept()
+          attemptCount.inc
+          try:
+            # Read SSLRequest
+            discard await readN(st, 8)
+            # Refuse SSL (sslPrefer will fall back to plaintext)
+            await sendBytes(st, @[byte('N')])
+            await drainStartupMessage(st)
+            await sendAuthOkAndReady(st)
+            await drainUntilClose(st)
+          except CatchableError:
+            discard
+          await closeClient(st)
+
+      let serverFut = serverHandler()
+
+      let config = ConnConfig(
+        host: "127.0.0.1",
+        port: ms.port,
+        user: "test",
+        database: "test",
+        sslMode: sslAllow,
+      )
+
+      let conn = await connect(config)
+      connState = conn.state
+      connSslEnabled = conn.sslEnabled
+      await conn.close()
+
+      await serverFut
+      await closeServer(ms)
+
+    waitFor testBody()
+    check attemptCount == 2
+    check connState == csReady
+    check connSslEnabled == false
+
 suite "SSL negotiation - sslDisable":
   test "sslDisable sends StartupMessage directly without SSLRequest":
     var firstMsgVersion: int32 = 0