diff --git a/pkg/util/config/config_test.go b/pkg/util/config/config_test.go
index eb27d1bda..c5fd48d93 100644
--- a/pkg/util/config/config_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/config/config_test.go
@@ -2,10 +2,19 @@ package config
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 	"reflect"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 )
 
+func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
+	// Set OPERATOR_NAMESPACE to avoid log.Fatal in GetOperatorNamespace
+	// when running tests outside a Kubernetes pod
+	os.Setenv("OPERATOR_NAMESPACE", "default")
+	os.Exit(m.Run())
+}
+
 var getMapPairsFromStringTest = []struct {
 	in       string
 	expected []string
@@ -29,3 +38,300 @@ func TestGetMapPairsFromString(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func int32Ptr(i int32) *int32 {
+	return &i
+}
+
+func boolPtr(b bool) *bool {
+	return &b
+}
+
+var validateTests = []struct {
+	description string
+	cfg         Config
+	expectError bool
+	errorMsg    string
+}{
+	{
+		description: "valid config",
+		cfg: Config{
+			Resources: Resources{
+				MinInstances: 1,
+				MaxInstances: 5,
+			},
+			Auth: Auth{
+				SuperUsername: "postgres",
+			},
+			ConnectionPooler: ConnectionPooler{
+				NumberOfInstances: int32Ptr(2),
+				User:              "pooler",
+			},
+			Workers: 4,
+		},
+		expectError: false,
+	},
+	{
+		description: "min instances greater than max instances",
+		cfg: Config{
+			Resources: Resources{
+				MinInstances: 10,
+				MaxInstances: 5,
+			},
+			Auth: Auth{
+				SuperUsername: "postgres",
+			},
+			ConnectionPooler: ConnectionPooler{
+				NumberOfInstances: int32Ptr(2),
+				User:              "pooler",
+			},
+			Workers: 4,
+		},
+		expectError: true,
+		errorMsg:    "minimum number of instances",
+	},
+	{
+		description: "workers set to zero",
+		cfg: Config{
+			Resources: Resources{
+				MinInstances: 1,
+				MaxInstances: 5,
+			},
+			Auth: Auth{
+				SuperUsername: "postgres",
+			},
+			ConnectionPooler: ConnectionPooler{
+				NumberOfInstances: int32Ptr(2),
+				User:              "pooler",
+			},
+			Workers: 0,
+		},
+		expectError: true,
+		errorMsg:    "number of workers should be higher than 0",
+	},
+	{
+		description: "connection pooler instances below minimum",
+		cfg: Config{
+			Resources: Resources{
+				MinInstances: 1,
+				MaxInstances: 5,
+			},
+			Auth: Auth{
+				SuperUsername: "postgres",
+			},
+			ConnectionPooler: ConnectionPooler{
+				NumberOfInstances: int32Ptr(0),
+				User:              "pooler",
+			},
+			Workers: 4,
+		},
+		expectError: true,
+		errorMsg:    "number of connection pooler instances",
+	},
+	{
+		description: "connection pooler user same as super user",
+		cfg: Config{
+			Resources: Resources{
+				MinInstances: 1,
+				MaxInstances: 5,
+			},
+			Auth: Auth{
+				SuperUsername: "postgres",
+			},
+			ConnectionPooler: ConnectionPooler{
+				NumberOfInstances: int32Ptr(2),
+				User:              "postgres",
+			},
+			Workers: 4,
+		},
+		expectError: true,
+		errorMsg:    "connection pool user is not allowed to be the same as super user",
+	},
+	{
+		description: "min and max instances both negative (disabled)",
+		cfg: Config{
+			Resources: Resources{
+				MinInstances: -1,
+				MaxInstances: -1,
+			},
+			Auth: Auth{
+				SuperUsername: "postgres",
+			},
+			ConnectionPooler: ConnectionPooler{
+				NumberOfInstances: int32Ptr(2),
+				User:              "pooler",
+			},
+			Workers: 4,
+		},
+		expectError: false,
+	},
+}
+
+func TestValidate(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tt := range validateTests {
+		t.Run(tt.description, func(t *testing.T) {
+			err := validate(&tt.cfg)
+			if tt.expectError {
+				if err == nil {
+					t.Errorf("expected error containing %q, got nil", tt.errorMsg)
+					return
+				}
+				if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), tt.errorMsg) {
+					t.Errorf("expected error containing %q, got %q", tt.errorMsg, err.Error())
+				}
+			} else {
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Errorf("expected no error, got %v", err)
+				}
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+var newFromMapTests = []struct {
+	description  string
+	input        map[string]string
+	expectPanic  bool
+	panicMsg     string
+	validateFunc func(t *testing.T, cfg *Config)
+}{
+	{
+		description: "empty map uses defaults",
+		input:       map[string]string{},
+		expectPanic: false,
+		validateFunc: func(t *testing.T, cfg *Config) {
+			if cfg.Workers != 8 {
+				t.Errorf("expected default Workers=8, got %d", cfg.Workers)
+			}
+			if cfg.SuperUsername != "postgres" {
+				t.Errorf("expected default SuperUsername=postgres, got %s", cfg.SuperUsername)
+			}
+			if cfg.ReplicationUsername != "standby" {
+				t.Errorf("expected default ReplicationUsername=standby, got %s", cfg.ReplicationUsername)
+			}
+		},
+	},
+	{
+		description: "custom values override defaults",
+		input: map[string]string{
+			"workers":        "16",
+			"super_username": "admin",
+		},
+		expectPanic: false,
+		validateFunc: func(t *testing.T, cfg *Config) {
+			if cfg.Workers != 16 {
+				t.Errorf("expected Workers=16, got %d", cfg.Workers)
+			}
+			if cfg.SuperUsername != "admin" {
+				t.Errorf("expected SuperUsername=admin, got %s", cfg.SuperUsername)
+			}
+		},
+	},
+	{
+		description: "duration parsing",
+		input: map[string]string{
+			"ready_wait_interval": "10s",
+			"ready_wait_timeout":  "1m",
+		},
+		expectPanic: false,
+		validateFunc: func(t *testing.T, cfg *Config) {
+			if cfg.ReadyWaitInterval.Seconds() != 10 {
+				t.Errorf("expected ReadyWaitInterval=10s, got %v", cfg.ReadyWaitInterval)
+			}
+			if cfg.ReadyWaitTimeout.Minutes() != 1 {
+				t.Errorf("expected ReadyWaitTimeout=1m, got %v", cfg.ReadyWaitTimeout)
+			}
+		},
+	},
+	{
+		description: "boolean parsing",
+		input: map[string]string{
+			"enable_teams_api": "false",
+			"debug_logging":    "false",
+		},
+		expectPanic: false,
+		validateFunc: func(t *testing.T, cfg *Config) {
+			if cfg.EnableTeamsAPI != false {
+				t.Errorf("expected EnableTeamsAPI=false, got %v", cfg.EnableTeamsAPI)
+			}
+			if cfg.DebugLogging != false {
+				t.Errorf("expected DebugLogging=false, got %v", cfg.DebugLogging)
+			}
+		},
+	},
+	{
+		description: "map parsing",
+		input: map[string]string{
+			"cluster_labels": "app:myapp,env:prod",
+		},
+		expectPanic: false,
+		validateFunc: func(t *testing.T, cfg *Config) {
+			if cfg.ClusterLabels["app"] != "myapp" {
+				t.Errorf("expected ClusterLabels[app]=myapp, got %s", cfg.ClusterLabels["app"])
+			}
+			if cfg.ClusterLabels["env"] != "prod" {
+				t.Errorf("expected ClusterLabels[env]=prod, got %s", cfg.ClusterLabels["env"])
+			}
+		},
+	},
+	{
+		description: "slice parsing",
+		input: map[string]string{
+			"inherited_labels": "label1,label2,label3",
+		},
+		expectPanic: false,
+		validateFunc: func(t *testing.T, cfg *Config) {
+			expected := []string{"label1", "label2", "label3"}
+			if !reflect.DeepEqual(cfg.InheritedLabels, expected) {
+				t.Errorf("expected InheritedLabels=%v, got %v", expected, cfg.InheritedLabels)
+			}
+		},
+	},
+	{
+		description: "invalid workers triggers validation panic",
+		input: map[string]string{
+			"workers": "0",
+		},
+		expectPanic: true,
+		panicMsg:    "number of workers should be higher than 0",
+	},
+	{
+		description: "invalid integer causes panic",
+		input: map[string]string{
+			"workers": "invalid",
+		},
+		expectPanic: true,
+		panicMsg:    "invalid syntax",
+	},
+}
+
+func TestNewFromMap(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tt := range newFromMapTests {
+		t.Run(tt.description, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if tt.expectPanic {
+				defer func() {
+					r := recover()
+					if r == nil {
+						t.Errorf("expected panic with message containing %q, but no panic occurred", tt.panicMsg)
+						return
+					}
+					errMsg := fmt.Sprintf("%v", r)
+					if !strings.Contains(errMsg, tt.panicMsg) {
+						t.Errorf("expected panic message containing %q, got %q", tt.panicMsg, errMsg)
+					}
+				}()
+			}
+
+			cfg := NewFromMap(tt.input)
+
+			if tt.expectPanic {
+				t.Errorf("expected panic but NewFromMap returned successfully")
+				return
+			}
+
+			if tt.validateFunc != nil {
+				tt.validateFunc(t, cfg)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}