diff --git a/templates/_helpers.tpl b/templates/_helpers.tpl
index 6331a26..a58de9d 100644
--- a/templates/_helpers.tpl
+++ b/templates/_helpers.tpl
@@ -161,3 +161,16 @@ Find highest number of needed database connections to set DB_POOL variable
 {{- end }}
 {{- $poolSize | quote }}
 {{- end }}
+
+{{/*
+Full hostname for a custom Elasticsearch cluster
+*/}}
+{{- define "mastodon.elasticsearch.fullHostname" -}}
+{{- if not .Values.elasticsearch.enabled }}
+    {{- if .Values.elasticsearch.tls }}
+        {{- printf "https://%s" (tpl .Values.elasticsearch.hostname $) -}}
+    {{- else -}}
+        {{- printf "%s" (tpl .Values.elasticsearch.hostname $) -}}
+    {{- end }}
+{{- end -}}
+{{- end -}}
diff --git a/templates/configmap-env.yaml b/templates/configmap-env.yaml
index da9b174..ab0d86a 100644
--- a/templates/configmap-env.yaml
+++ b/templates/configmap-env.yaml
@@ -21,6 +21,13 @@ data:
   ES_ENABLED: "true"
   ES_HOST: {{ template "mastodon.elasticsearch.fullname" . }}-master-hl
   ES_PORT: "9200"
+  {{- else if .Values.elasticsearch.hostname }}
+  ES_ENABLED: "true"
+  ES_HOST: {{ include "mastodon.elasticsearch.fullHostname" .}}
+  ES_PORT: {{ .Values.elasticsearch.port | default "9200" | quote }}
+  {{- end }}
+  {{- with .Values.elasticsearch.user }}
+  ES_USER: {{ . }}
   {{- end }}
   LOCAL_DOMAIN: {{ .Values.mastodon.local_domain }}
   {{- with .Values.mastodon.web_domain }}
diff --git a/templates/cronjob-media-remove.yaml b/templates/cronjob-media-remove.yaml
index d70afeb..33229a8 100644
--- a/templates/cronjob-media-remove.yaml
+++ b/templates/cronjob-media-remove.yaml
@@ -65,6 +65,13 @@ spec:
                     secretKeyRef:
                       name: {{ template "mastodon.redis.secretName" . }}
                       key: redis-password
+                {{- if and .Values.elasticsearch.existingSecret (or .Values.elasticsearch.enabled .Values.elasticsearch.hostname) }}
+                - name: "ES_PASS"
+                  valueFrom:
+                    secretKeyRef:
+                      name: {{ .Values.elasticsearch.existingSecret }}
+                      key: password
+                {{- end }}
                 - name: "PORT"
                   value: {{ .Values.mastodon.web.port | quote }}
                 {{- if (and .Values.mastodon.s3.enabled .Values.mastodon.s3.existingSecret) }}
diff --git a/templates/deployment-sidekiq.yaml b/templates/deployment-sidekiq.yaml
index 3d269e1..15421cf 100644
--- a/templates/deployment-sidekiq.yaml
+++ b/templates/deployment-sidekiq.yaml
@@ -97,6 +97,13 @@ spec:
                 secretKeyRef:
                   name: {{ template "mastodon.redis.secretName" $context }}
                   key: redis-password
+            {{- if and $context.Values.elasticsearch.existingSecret (or $context.Values.elasticsearch.enabled $context.Values.elasticsearch.hostname) }}
+            - name: "ES_PASS"
+              valueFrom:
+                secretKeyRef:
+                  name: {{ $context.Values.elasticsearch.existingSecret }}
+                  key: password
+            {{- end }}
             - name: "SMTP_LOGIN"
               valueFrom:
                 secretKeyRef:
diff --git a/templates/deployment-web.yaml b/templates/deployment-web.yaml
index c206297..a05f0ba 100644
--- a/templates/deployment-web.yaml
+++ b/templates/deployment-web.yaml
@@ -78,6 +78,13 @@ spec:
                 secretKeyRef:
                   name: {{ template "mastodon.redis.secretName" . }}
                   key: redis-password
+            {{- if and .Values.elasticsearch.existingSecret (or .Values.elasticsearch.enabled .Values.elasticsearch.hostname) }}
+            - name: "ES_PASS"
+              valueFrom:
+                secretKeyRef:
+                  name: {{ .Values.elasticsearch.existingSecret }}
+                  key: password
+            {{- end }}
             - name: "PORT"
               value: {{ .Values.mastodon.web.port | quote }}
             {{- if .Values.mastodon.web.minThreads }}
diff --git a/templates/job-chewy-upgrade.yaml b/templates/job-chewy-upgrade.yaml
index f86a4e3..33e9bf9 100644
--- a/templates/job-chewy-upgrade.yaml
+++ b/templates/job-chewy-upgrade.yaml
@@ -67,6 +67,13 @@ spec:
                 secretKeyRef:
                   name: {{ template "mastodon.redis.secretName" . }}
                   key: redis-password
+            {{- if and .Values.elasticsearch.existingSecret (or .Values.elasticsearch.enabled .Values.elasticsearch.hostname) }}
+            - name: "ES_PASS"
+              valueFrom:
+                secretKeyRef:
+                  name: {{ .Values.elasticsearch.existingSecret }}
+                  key: password
+            {{- end }}
             - name: "PORT"
               value: {{ .Values.mastodon.web.port | quote }}
           {{- if (not .Values.mastodon.s3.enabled) }}
diff --git a/values.yaml b/values.yaml
index 34f7869..8998fdd 100644
--- a/values.yaml
+++ b/values.yaml
@@ -247,17 +247,29 @@ ingress:
 
 # -- https://github.com/bitnami/charts/tree/master/bitnami/elasticsearch#parameters
 elasticsearch:
-  # `false` will disable full-text search
+  # Elasticsearch is powering full-text search. It is optional.
+
+  # `false` will not install Elasticsearch as part of this chart
   #
   # if you enable ES after the initial install, you will need to manually run
   # RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake chewy:sync
   # (https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/elasticsearch/)
-  # @ignored
   enabled: true
   # @ignored
   image:
     tag: 7
 
+  # If you are using an external ES cluster, use `enabled: false` and set the hostname, port,
+  # and whether the cluster uses TLS.
+  # hostname:
+  # port: 9200
+  # tls: true
+
+  # This is optional, use it if you ES cluster requires authentication
+  # user:
+  # Name of an existing secret with a password key
+  # existingSecret:
+
 # https://github.com/bitnami/charts/tree/master/bitnami/postgresql#parameters
 postgresql:
   # -- disable if you want to use an existing db; in which case the values below