diff --git a/config/ipdr.php b/config/ipdr.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4ed38fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/ipdr.php
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * The session records database. An empty value takes the app's own MySQL connection setting; the database name
+ * defaults to ispgrid_ipdr. Read here, not in the service provider, so the values survive `config:cache`.
+ */
+return [
+    'database' => [
+        'host' => env('IPDR_DB_HOST'),
+        'port' => env('IPDR_DB_PORT'),
+        'database' => env('IPDR_DB_DATABASE'),
+        'username' => env('IPDR_DB_USERNAME'),
+        'password' => env('IPDR_DB_PASSWORD'),
+    ],
+];
diff --git a/resources/views/livewire/session-records/session-records.php b/resources/views/livewire/session-records/session-records.php
index 7694540..75ea6a5 100644
--- a/resources/views/livewire/session-records/session-records.php
+++ b/resources/views/livewire/session-records/session-records.php
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 use Illuminate\Validation\Rule;
 use Ispgrid\Ipdr\Archive\CopySessions;
 use Ispgrid\Ipdr\Archive\KeepDays;
+use Ispgrid\Ipdr\Search\CsvCell;
 use Ispgrid\Ipdr\Search\SessionRows;
 use Ispgrid\Ipdr\Search\SessionSearch;
 use Livewire\Attributes\Computed;
@@ -82,7 +83,7 @@ public function export(): StreamedResponse
             fputcsv($output, $header, escape: '');
 
             foreach ($rows as $row) {
-                fputcsv($output, [$row['username'], $row['customer'], $row['mobile'], $row['address'], $row['mac'], $row['ip'], $row['nas'], $row['start'], $row['end'], $row['duration'], $row['down'], $row['up']], escape: '');
+                fputcsv($output, array_map(CsvCell::safe(...), [$row['username'], $row['customer'], $row['mobile'], $row['address'], $row['mac'], $row['ip'], $row['nas'], $row['start'], $row['end'], $row['duration'], $row['down'], $row['up']]), escape: '');
             }
 
             fclose($output);
diff --git a/src/IpdrServiceProvider.php b/src/IpdrServiceProvider.php
index 1cbe8c6..d9a331d 100644
--- a/src/IpdrServiceProvider.php
+++ b/src/IpdrServiceProvider.php
@@ -24,17 +24,14 @@ class IpdrServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
 {
     public function register(): void
     {
+        $this->mergeConfigFrom(__DIR__.'/../config/ipdr.php', 'ipdr');
+
         /** @var array<string, mixed> $base */
         $base = config('database.connections.mysql');
+        $own = array_filter((array) config('ipdr.database', []), fn (mixed $value): bool => $value !== null && $value !== '');
         $default = $this->app->environment('testing') ? 'ispgrid_ipdr_test' : 'ispgrid_ipdr';
 
-        config(['database.connections.ipdr' => array_merge($base, [
-            'host' => env('IPDR_DB_HOST', $base['host']),
-            'port' => env('IPDR_DB_PORT', $base['port']),
-            'database' => env('IPDR_DB_DATABASE', $default),
-            'username' => env('IPDR_DB_USERNAME', $base['username']),
-            'password' => env('IPDR_DB_PASSWORD', $base['password']),
-        ])]);
+        config(['database.connections.ipdr' => array_merge($base, ['database' => $default], $own)]);
     }
 
     public function boot(): void
diff --git a/src/Search/CsvCell.php b/src/Search/CsvCell.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3d9433d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Search/CsvCell.php
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Ispgrid\Ipdr\Search;
+
+/**
+ * A CSV cell a spreadsheet will not run: text starting with =, +, -, @, tab or CR (a customer named
+ * "=HYPERLINK(...)") gets a leading apostrophe; numbers stay numbers.
+ */
+final class CsvCell
+{
+    public static function safe(string|int|float|null $value): string
+    {
+        $text = (string) $value;
+
+        return $text !== '' && ! is_numeric($text) && in_array($text[0], ['=', '+', '-', '@', "\t", "\r"], true) ? "'".$text : $text;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Feature/DatabaseTest.php b/tests/Feature/DatabaseTest.php
index c282f49..61a6847 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/DatabaseTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/DatabaseTest.php
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
+use Ispgrid\Ipdr\IpdrServiceProvider;
 
 it('creates the archive tables in their own database', function () {
     expect(DB::connection('ipdr')->getDatabaseName())->toBe('ispgrid_ipdr_test')
@@ -10,6 +11,15 @@
         ->and(Schema::connection('ipdr')->hasTable('ipdr_state'))->toBeTrue();
 });
 
+it('takes its database settings from its config file, so they survive config:cache', function () {
+    config(['ipdr.database.database' => 'ispgrid_ipdr_other', 'ipdr.database.host' => '']);
+
+    (new IpdrServiceProvider(app()))->register();
+
+    expect(config('database.connections.ipdr.database'))->toBe('ispgrid_ipdr_other')
+        ->and(config('database.connections.ipdr.host'))->toBe(config('database.connections.mysql.host'));
+});
+
 it('adds the Search session records permission', function () {
     expect(DB::table('permissions')->where('name', 'search-session-records')->exists())->toBeTrue();
 });
diff --git a/tests/Feature/SearchPageTest.php b/tests/Feature/SearchPageTest.php
index 048dfbd..e9a7074 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/SearchPageTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/SearchPageTest.php
@@ -91,3 +91,16 @@ function closedSessionWithIp(string $username): void
 
     expect(Activity::query()->where('event', 'session-records-exported')->count())->toBe(1);
 });
+
+it('exports a name a spreadsheet would run as a formula as plain text', function () {
+    $this->actingAs(User::factory()->create());
+    Account::factory()->create(['username' => 'asha', 'fullname' => '=HYPERLINK("http://x.test")']);
+    closedSessionWithIp('asha');
+
+    $page = Livewire::test('ipdr::session-records')
+        ->set('by', 'ip')->set('value', '100.64.10.7')->set('at', '2026-10-15T10:00')
+        ->set('reference', 'R1')->set('reason', 'Test')
+        ->call('export');
+
+    expect(base64_decode((string) data_get($page->effects, 'download.content')))->toContain('"\'=HYPERLINK(""http://x.test"")"');
+});