diff --git a/hack/e2e-apps/mariadb.bats b/hack/e2e-apps/mariadb.bats
index 0c1e3a5e8..e099018b1 100644
--- a/hack/e2e-apps/mariadb.bats
+++ b/hack/e2e-apps/mariadb.bats
@@ -49,3 +49,62 @@ EOF
   kubectl -n tenant-test wait deployment.apps/mariadb-$name-metrics --timeout=90s --for=jsonpath='{.status.replicas}'=1
   kubectl -n tenant-test delete mariadbs.apps.cozystack.io $name
 }
+
+@test "Create single-replica MariaDB" {
+  name='single'
+  kubectl -n tenant-test delete mariadbs.apps.cozystack.io $name --ignore-not-found --timeout=2m
+  kubectl apply -f- <<EOF
+apiVersion: apps.cozystack.io/v1alpha1
+kind: MariaDB
+metadata:
+  name: $name
+  namespace: tenant-test
+spec:
+  external: false
+  size: 10Gi
+  replicas: 1
+  storageClass: ""
+  users:
+    testuser:
+      maxUserConnections: 1000
+      password: xai7Wepo
+  databases:
+    testdb:
+      roles:
+        admin:
+        - testuser
+  backup:
+    enabled: false
+    s3Region: us-east-1
+    s3Bucket: s3.example.org/mariadb-backups
+    schedule: "0 2 * * *"
+    cleanupStrategy: "--keep-last=3 --keep-daily=3 --keep-within-weekly=1m"
+    s3AccessKey: oobaiRus9pah8PhohL1ThaeTa4UVa7gu
+    s3SecretKey: ju3eum4dekeich9ahM1te8waeGai0oog
+    resticPassword: ChaXoveekoh6eigh4siesheeda2quai0
+  resources: {}
+  resourcesPreset: "nano"
+EOF
+  # Wait for the operator to materialise the HelmRelease before kubectl wait
+  # kicks in (kubectl wait errors immediately if the object does not exist yet).
+  timeout 60 sh -ec "until kubectl -n tenant-test get hr mariadb-$name >/dev/null 2>&1; do sleep 2; done"
+  # A single-replica MariaDB must be accepted by the operator's validating
+  # webhook: replication is guarded on replicas>1, so replicas=1 renders a CR
+  # the webhook admits. Dump the HR + rendered CR on failure so a webhook
+  # rejection (the regression this guards against) is legible in the log.
+  kubectl -n tenant-test wait hr mariadb-$name --timeout=5m --for=condition=ready \
+    || { echo "HR mariadb-$name not ready — dumping state:"; \
+         kubectl -n tenant-test describe hr mariadb-$name; \
+         kubectl -n tenant-test get mariadbs.k8s.mariadb.com mariadb-$name -o yaml; false; }
+  # With replicas=1 the operator provisions the bare <name> service (no
+  # -primary/-secondary): assert it exists and has an endpoint.
+  timeout 80 sh -ec "until kubectl -n tenant-test get svc mariadb-$name -o jsonpath='{.spec.ports[0].port}' | grep -q '3306'; do sleep 10; done"
+  timeout 80 sh -ec "until kubectl -n tenant-test get endpoints mariadb-$name -o jsonpath='{.subsets[*].addresses[*].ip}' | grep -q '[0-9]'; do sleep 10; done"
+  timeout 60 sh -ec "until kubectl -n tenant-test get statefulset.apps/mariadb-$name >/dev/null 2>&1; do sleep 2; done"
+  kubectl -n tenant-test wait statefulset.apps/mariadb-$name --timeout=110s --for=jsonpath='{.status.replicas}'=1
+  timeout 80 sh -ec "until kubectl -n tenant-test get svc mariadb-$name-metrics -o jsonpath='{.spec.ports[0].port}' | grep -q '9104'; do sleep 10; done"
+  timeout 40 sh -ec "until kubectl -n tenant-test get endpoints mariadb-$name-metrics -o jsonpath='{.subsets[*].addresses[*].ip}' | grep -q '[0-9]'; do sleep 10; done"
+  timeout 60 sh -ec "until kubectl -n tenant-test get deployment.apps/mariadb-$name-metrics >/dev/null 2>&1; do sleep 2; done"
+  kubectl -n tenant-test wait deployment.apps/mariadb-$name-metrics --timeout=90s --for=jsonpath='{.status.replicas}'=1
+  kubectl -n tenant-test delete mariadbs.apps.cozystack.io $name --ignore-not-found
+}
diff --git a/packages/apps/mariadb/templates/backup-cronjob.yaml b/packages/apps/mariadb/templates/backup-cronjob.yaml
index ddb237cdd..9316e37a9 100644
--- a/packages/apps/mariadb/templates/backup-cronjob.yaml
+++ b/packages/apps/mariadb/templates/backup-cronjob.yaml
@@ -41,7 +41,9 @@ spec:
                   name: {{ .Release.Name }}
                   key: root-password
             - name: MYSQL_HOST
-              value: "{{ .Release.Name }}-{{ if eq (int .Values.replicas) 1 }}primary{{ else }}secondary{{ end }}"
+              # replicas>1 enables replication (offload dumps to a secondary);
+              # replicas=1 has no replication and only the bare service exists.
+              value: "{{ .Release.Name }}{{- if gt (int .Values.replicas) 1 }}-secondary{{- end }}"
             - name: AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
               valueFrom:
                 secretKeyRef:
diff --git a/packages/apps/mariadb/templates/dashboard-resourcemap.yaml b/packages/apps/mariadb/templates/dashboard-resourcemap.yaml
index af89b39c0..a7c5731ea 100644
--- a/packages/apps/mariadb/templates/dashboard-resourcemap.yaml
+++ b/packages/apps/mariadb/templates/dashboard-resourcemap.yaml
@@ -8,8 +8,14 @@ rules:
   resources:
   - services
   resourceNames:
+  # The bare <name> service exists in both topologies; -primary/-secondary
+  # only when replication is on (replicas>1). Grant exactly what exists so the
+  # RBAC matches the services the ApplicationDefinition (mariadb-rd) lists.
+  - {{ .Release.Name }}
+  {{- if gt (int .Values.replicas) 1 }}
   - {{ .Release.Name }}-primary
   - {{ .Release.Name }}-secondary
+  {{- end }}
   verbs: ["get", "list", "watch"]
 - apiGroups:
   - ""
diff --git a/packages/apps/mariadb/templates/mariadb.yaml b/packages/apps/mariadb/templates/mariadb.yaml
index 51bbdf74a..e6925591d 100644
--- a/packages/apps/mariadb/templates/mariadb.yaml
+++ b/packages/apps/mariadb/templates/mariadb.yaml
@@ -29,11 +29,13 @@ spec:
             - {{ .Release.Name }}
         topologyKey: "kubernetes.io/hostname"
 
+  {{- if gt (int .Values.replicas) 1 }}
   replication:
     enabled: true
     #primary:
     #  podIndex: 0
     #  automaticFailover: true
+  {{- end }}
 
   podMetadata:
     labels:
@@ -71,6 +73,9 @@ spec:
     metadata:
       labels:
         app.kubernetes.io/instance: {{ $.Release.Name }}
+    {{- if and .Values.external (eq (int .Values.replicas) 1) }}
+    type: LoadBalancer
+    {{- end }}
   storage:
     size: {{ .Values.size }}
     resizeInUseVolumes: true
@@ -79,7 +84,7 @@ spec:
     storageClassName: {{ . }}
     {{- end }}
 
-  {{- if .Values.external }}
+  {{- if and .Values.external (gt (int .Values.replicas) 1) }}
   primaryService:
     type: LoadBalancer
   {{- end }}
diff --git a/packages/system/mariadb-rd/cozyrds/mariadb.yaml b/packages/system/mariadb-rd/cozyrds/mariadb.yaml
index ab1249b2f..122814052 100644
--- a/packages/system/mariadb-rd/cozyrds/mariadb.yaml
+++ b/packages/system/mariadb-rd/cozyrds/mariadb.yaml
@@ -35,5 +35,6 @@ spec:
     exclude: []
     include:
       - resourceNames:
+          - mariadb-{{ .name }}
           - mariadb-{{ .name }}-primary
           - mariadb-{{ .name }}-secondary