diff --git a/pgconn/config.go b/pgconn/config.go
index 01710bb23..5858f5051 100644
--- a/pgconn/config.go
+++ b/pgconn/config.go
@@ -44,6 +44,11 @@ type Config struct {
 	LookupFunc     LookupFunc // e.g. net.Resolver.LookupHost
 	BuildFrontend  BuildFrontendFunc
 
+	// MaxProtocolMessageBodyLen is the maximum length of a PostgreSQL wire protocol message body in octets. If a
+	// message body exceeds this length, reading the message will fail with pgproto3.ExceededMaxBodyLenErr. The default
+	// value is 0, which means no maximum is enforced.
+	MaxProtocolMessageBodyLen int
+
 	// BuildContextWatcherHandler is called to create a ContextWatcherHandler for a connection. The handler is called
 	// when a context passed to a PgConn method is canceled.
 	BuildContextWatcherHandler func(*PgConn) ctxwatch.Handler
diff --git a/pgconn/config_test.go b/pgconn/config_test.go
index 1f7ea08a5..f184a22c4 100644
--- a/pgconn/config_test.go
+++ b/pgconn/config_test.go
@@ -841,6 +841,7 @@ func TestConfigCopyReturnsEqualConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	connString := "postgres://jack:secret@localhost:5432/mydb?application_name=pgxtest&search_path=myschema&connect_timeout=5"
 	original, err := pgconn.ParseConfig(connString)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
+	original.MaxProtocolMessageBodyLen = 12345
 
 	copied := original.Copy()
 	assertConfigsEqual(t, original, copied, "Test Config.Copy() returns equal config")
@@ -938,6 +939,7 @@ func assertConfigsEqual(t *testing.T, expected, actual *pgconn.Config, testName
 	assert.Equalf(t, expected.User, actual.User, "%s - User", testName)
 	assert.Equalf(t, expected.Password, actual.Password, "%s - Password", testName)
 	assert.Equalf(t, expected.ConnectTimeout, actual.ConnectTimeout, "%s - ConnectTimeout", testName)
+	assert.Equalf(t, expected.MaxProtocolMessageBodyLen, actual.MaxProtocolMessageBodyLen, "%s - MaxProtocolMessageBodyLen", testName)
 	assert.Equalf(t, expected.RuntimeParams, actual.RuntimeParams, "%s - RuntimeParams", testName)
 
 	// Can't test function equality, so just test that they are set or not.
diff --git a/pgconn/pgconn.go b/pgconn/pgconn.go
index abf6c9d8d..861fbbd6e 100644
--- a/pgconn/pgconn.go
+++ b/pgconn/pgconn.go
@@ -384,6 +384,9 @@ func connectOne(ctx context.Context, config *Config, connectConfig *connectOneCo
 	pgConn.slowWriteTimer.Stop()
 	pgConn.bgReaderStarted = make(chan struct{})
 	pgConn.frontend = config.BuildFrontend(pgConn.bgReader, pgConn.conn)
+	if config.MaxProtocolMessageBodyLen > 0 {
+		pgConn.frontend.SetMaxBodyLen(config.MaxProtocolMessageBodyLen)
+	}
 
 	startupMsg := pgproto3.StartupMessage{
 		ProtocolVersion: maxProtocolVersion,
@@ -2177,6 +2180,9 @@ func Construct(hc *HijackedConn) (*PgConn, error) {
 	pgConn.slowWriteTimer.Stop()
 	pgConn.bgReaderStarted = make(chan struct{})
 	pgConn.frontend = hc.Config.BuildFrontend(pgConn.bgReader, pgConn.conn)
+	if hc.Config.MaxProtocolMessageBodyLen > 0 {
+		pgConn.frontend.SetMaxBodyLen(hc.Config.MaxProtocolMessageBodyLen)
+	}
 
 	return pgConn, nil
 }
diff --git a/pgconn/pgconn_test.go b/pgconn/pgconn_test.go
index dd6fce6b7..2f41ff1cf 100644
--- a/pgconn/pgconn_test.go
+++ b/pgconn/pgconn_test.go
@@ -875,6 +875,67 @@ func TestConnectConfigRequiresConfigFromParseConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	require.PanicsWithValue(t, "config must be created by ParseConfig", func() { pgconn.ConnectConfig(ctx, config) })
 }
 
+func TestConnectConfigMaxProtocolMessageBodyLen(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	ln, err := net.Listen("tcp", "127.0.0.1:")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer ln.Close()
+
+	serverErrChan := make(chan error, 1)
+	go func() {
+		defer close(serverErrChan)
+
+		conn, err := ln.Accept()
+		if err != nil {
+			serverErrChan <- err
+			return
+		}
+		defer conn.Close()
+
+		err = conn.SetDeadline(time.Now().Add(5 * time.Second))
+		if err != nil {
+			serverErrChan <- err
+			return
+		}
+
+		backend := pgproto3.NewBackend(conn, conn)
+		_, err = backend.ReceiveStartupMessage()
+		if err != nil {
+			serverErrChan <- err
+			return
+		}
+
+		// ParameterStatus declares a 6-octet body, which verifies that Config.MaxProtocolMessageBodyLen
+		// is installed before startup responses are received.
+		_, err = conn.Write([]byte{'S', 0, 0, 0, 10})
+		if err != nil {
+			serverErrChan <- err
+			return
+		}
+	}()
+
+	host, port, _ := strings.Cut(ln.Addr().String(), ":")
+	connStr := fmt.Sprintf("sslmode=disable host=%s port=%s", host, port)
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	config, err := pgconn.ParseConfig(connStr)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	config.MaxProtocolMessageBodyLen = 5
+
+	conn, err := pgconn.ConnectConfig(ctx, config)
+	require.Nil(t, conn)
+
+	var bodyLenErr *pgproto3.ExceededMaxBodyLenErr
+	require.ErrorAs(t, err, &bodyLenErr)
+	assert.Equal(t, 5, bodyLenErr.MaxExpectedBodyLen)
+	assert.Equal(t, 6, bodyLenErr.ActualBodyLen)
+
+	require.NoError(t, <-serverErrChan)
+}
+
 func TestConnPrepareSyntaxError(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()