diff --git a/compute_tools/src/compute.rs b/compute_tools/src/compute.rs
index 73e7a4e5e9..ceda189364 100644
--- a/compute_tools/src/compute.rs
+++ b/compute_tools/src/compute.rs
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ pub struct ParsedSpec {
     pub tenant_id: TenantId,
     pub timeline_id: TimelineId,
     pub pageserver_connstr: String,
+    pub safekeeper_connstrings: Vec<String>,
     pub storage_auth_token: Option<String>,
 }
 
@@ -106,6 +107,21 @@ impl TryFrom<ComputeSpec> for ParsedSpec {
             .clone()
             .or_else(|| spec.cluster.settings.find("neon.pageserver_connstring"))
             .ok_or("pageserver connstr should be provided")?;
+        let safekeeper_connstrings = if spec.safekeeper_connstrings.is_empty() {
+            if matches!(spec.mode, ComputeMode::Primary) {
+                spec.cluster
+                    .settings
+                    .find("neon.safekeepers")
+                    .ok_or("safekeeper connstrings should be provided")?
+                    .split(',')
+                    .map(|str| str.to_string())
+                    .collect()
+            } else {
+                vec![]
+            }
+        } else {
+            spec.safekeeper_connstrings.clone()
+        };
         let storage_auth_token = spec.storage_auth_token.clone();
         let tenant_id: TenantId = if let Some(tenant_id) = spec.tenant_id {
             tenant_id
@@ -131,6 +147,7 @@ impl TryFrom<ComputeSpec> for ParsedSpec {
         Ok(ParsedSpec {
             spec,
             pageserver_connstr,
+            safekeeper_connstrings,
             storage_auth_token,
             tenant_id,
             timeline_id,
@@ -322,9 +339,10 @@ impl ComputeNode {
             .as_ref()
             .expect("spec must be set")
             .clone();
-        let sk_connstrs: Vec<String> = pspec.spec.safekeeper_connstrings.clone();
+        let sk_connstrs: Vec<String> = pspec.safekeeper_connstrings.clone();
         let sk_configs = sk_connstrs.into_iter().map(|connstr| {
             // Format connstr
+            let id = connstr.clone();
             let connstr = format!("postgresql://no_user@{}", connstr);
             let options = format!(
                 "-c timeline_id={} tenant_id={}",
@@ -338,15 +356,15 @@ impl ComputeNode {
                 config.password(storage_auth_token);
             }
 
-            config
+            (id, config)
         });
 
         // Create task set to query all safekeepers
         let mut tasks = FuturesUnordered::new();
         let quorum = sk_configs.len() / 2 + 1;
-        for config in sk_configs {
+        for (id, config) in sk_configs {
             let timeout = tokio::time::Duration::from_millis(100);
-            let task = tokio::time::timeout(timeout, ping_safekeeper(config));
+            let task = tokio::time::timeout(timeout, ping_safekeeper(id, config));
             tasks.push(tokio::spawn(task));
         }
 
diff --git a/compute_tools/src/sync_sk.rs b/compute_tools/src/sync_sk.rs
index dd4ea94db2..22b7027b93 100644
--- a/compute_tools/src/sync_sk.rs
+++ b/compute_tools/src/sync_sk.rs
@@ -15,12 +15,15 @@ pub struct TimelineStatusOkResponse {
     commit_lsn: Lsn,
 }
 
-/// Get a safekeeper's metadata for our timeline
-pub async fn ping_safekeeper(config: tokio_postgres::Config) -> Result<TimelineStatusResponse> {
+/// Get a safekeeper's metadata for our timeline. The id is only used for logging
+pub async fn ping_safekeeper(
+    id: String,
+    config: tokio_postgres::Config,
+) -> Result<TimelineStatusResponse> {
     // TODO add retries
 
     // Connect
-    info!("connecting to {:?}", config);
+    info!("connecting to {}", id);
     let (client, conn) = config.connect(tokio_postgres::NoTls).await?;
     tokio::spawn(async move {
         if let Err(e) = conn.await {
@@ -29,11 +32,11 @@ pub async fn ping_safekeeper(config: tokio_postgres::Config) -> Result<TimelineS
     });
 
     // Query
-    info!("querying {:?}", config);
+    info!("querying {}", id);
     let result = client.simple_query("TIMELINE_STATUS").await?;
 
     // Parse result
-    info!("done with {:?}", config);
+    info!("done with {}", id);
     if let postgres::SimpleQueryMessage::Row(row) = &result[0] {
         use std::str::FromStr;
         let response = TimelineStatusResponse::Ok(TimelineStatusOkResponse {