diff --git a/lib-sql/grants.sql b/lib-sql/grants.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..58e41061
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib-sql/grants.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+-- SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
+--
+-- This file is part of Nominatim. (https://nominatim.org)
+--
+-- Copyright (C) 2026 by the Nominatim developer community.
+-- For a full list of authors see the git log.
+--
+-- Grant read-only access to the web user for all Nominatim tables.
+
+-- Core tables
+GRANT SELECT ON import_status TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
+GRANT SELECT ON country_name TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
+GRANT SELECT ON nominatim_properties TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
+
+-- Location tables
+GRANT SELECT ON location_property_tiger TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
+GRANT SELECT ON location_property_osmline TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
+GRANT SELECT ON location_postcodes TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
+
+-- Search tables
+{% if not db.reverse_only %}
+GRANT SELECT ON search_name TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
+{% endif %}
+
+-- Main place tables
+GRANT SELECT ON placex TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
+GRANT SELECT ON place_addressline TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
+GRANT SELECT ON placex_entrance TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
+
+-- Error/delete tracking tables
+GRANT SELECT ON import_polygon_error TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
+GRANT SELECT ON import_polygon_delete TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
+
+-- Country grid
+GRANT SELECT ON country_osm_grid TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
+
+-- Tokenizer tables (word table)
+{% if 'word' in db.tables %}
+GRANT SELECT ON word TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
+{% endif %}
+
+-- Special phrase tables
+{% for table in db.tables %}
+{% if table.startswith('place_classtype_') %}
+GRANT SELECT ON {{ table }} TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
+{% endif %}
+{% endfor %}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib-sql/tables.sql b/lib-sql/tables.sql
index c7e301d5..64545b27 100644
--- a/lib-sql/tables.sql
+++ b/lib-sql/tables.sql
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ CREATE TABLE import_status (
   sequence_id integer,
   indexed boolean
   );
-GRANT SELECT ON import_status TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}" ;
 
 drop table if exists import_osmosis_log;
 CREATE TABLE import_osmosis_log (
@@ -23,14 +22,11 @@ CREATE TABLE import_osmosis_log (
   event text
   );
 
-GRANT SELECT ON TABLE country_name TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
-
 DROP TABLE IF EXISTS nominatim_properties;
 CREATE TABLE nominatim_properties (
     property TEXT NOT NULL,
     value TEXT
 );
-GRANT SELECT ON TABLE nominatim_properties TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
 
 drop table IF EXISTS location_area CASCADE;
 CREATE TABLE location_area (
@@ -66,7 +62,6 @@ CREATE TABLE location_property_tiger (
   partition SMALLINT NOT NULL,
   linegeo GEOMETRY NOT NULL,
   postcode TEXT);
-GRANT SELECT ON location_property_tiger TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
 
 drop table if exists location_property_osmline;
 CREATE TABLE location_property_osmline (
@@ -90,7 +85,6 @@ CREATE UNIQUE INDEX idx_osmline_place_id ON location_property_osmline USING BTRE
 CREATE INDEX idx_osmline_geometry_sector ON location_property_osmline USING BTREE (geometry_sector) {{db.tablespace.address_index}};
 CREATE INDEX idx_osmline_linegeo ON location_property_osmline USING GIST (linegeo) {{db.tablespace.search_index}}
   WHERE startnumber is not null;
-GRANT SELECT ON location_property_osmline TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
 
 drop table IF EXISTS search_name;
 {% if not db.reverse_only %}
@@ -106,7 +100,6 @@ CREATE TABLE search_name (
   ) {{db.tablespace.search_data}};
 CREATE UNIQUE INDEX idx_search_name_place_id
   ON search_name USING BTREE (place_id) {{db.tablespace.search_index}};
-GRANT SELECT ON search_name to "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}" ;
 {% endif %}
 
 drop table IF EXISTS place_addressline;
@@ -203,11 +196,6 @@ CREATE INDEX idx_placex_rank_boundaries_sector ON placex
 
 DROP SEQUENCE IF EXISTS seq_place;
 CREATE SEQUENCE seq_place start 1;
-GRANT SELECT on placex to "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}" ;
-GRANT SELECT on place_addressline to "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}" ;
-GRANT SELECT ON planet_osm_ways to "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}" ;
-GRANT SELECT ON planet_osm_rels to "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}" ;
-GRANT SELECT on location_area to "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}" ;
 
 -- Table for synthetic postcodes.
 DROP TABLE IF EXISTS location_postcodes;
@@ -232,7 +220,6 @@ CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_location_postcodes_postcode
   {{db.tablespace.search_index}};
 CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_location_postcodes_osmid
   ON location_postcodes USING BTREE (osm_id) {{db.tablespace.search_index}};
-GRANT SELECT ON location_postcodes TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}" ;
 
 -- Table to store location of entrance nodes
 DROP TABLE IF EXISTS placex_entrance;
@@ -245,7 +232,6 @@ CREATE TABLE placex_entrance (
   );
 CREATE UNIQUE INDEX idx_placex_entrance_place_id_osm_id ON placex_entrance
   USING BTREE (place_id, osm_id) {{db.tablespace.search_index}};
-GRANT SELECT ON placex_entrance TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}" ;
 
 -- Create an index on the place table for lookups to populate the entrance
 -- table
@@ -267,7 +253,6 @@ CREATE TABLE import_polygon_error (
   newgeometry GEOMETRY(Geometry, 4326)
   );
 CREATE INDEX idx_import_polygon_error_osmid ON import_polygon_error USING BTREE (osm_type, osm_id);
-GRANT SELECT ON import_polygon_error TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
 
 DROP TABLE IF EXISTS import_polygon_delete;
 CREATE TABLE import_polygon_delete (
@@ -277,7 +262,6 @@ CREATE TABLE import_polygon_delete (
   type TEXT NOT NULL
   );
 CREATE INDEX idx_import_polygon_delete_osmid ON import_polygon_delete USING BTREE (osm_type, osm_id);
-GRANT SELECT ON import_polygon_delete TO "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
 
 DROP SEQUENCE IF EXISTS file;
 CREATE SEQUENCE file start 1;
@@ -308,5 +292,3 @@ CREATE INDEX planet_osm_rels_relation_members_idx ON planet_osm_rels USING gin(p
 CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_place_interpolations
     ON place USING gist(geometry) {{db.tablespace.address_index}}
     WHERE osm_type = 'W' and address ? 'interpolation';
-
-GRANT SELECT ON table country_osm_grid to "{{config.DATABASE_WEBUSER}}";
diff --git a/src/nominatim_db/clicmd/args.py b/src/nominatim_db/clicmd/args.py
index ee9d8fec..a7072d9f 100644
--- a/src/nominatim_db/clicmd/args.py
+++ b/src/nominatim_db/clicmd/args.py
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ class NominatimArgs:
     enable_debug_statements: bool
     data_object: Sequence[Tuple[str, int]]
     data_area: Sequence[Tuple[str, int]]
+    ro_access: bool
 
     # Arguments to 'replication'
     init: bool
diff --git a/src/nominatim_db/clicmd/refresh.py b/src/nominatim_db/clicmd/refresh.py
index 1d1977d2..96646c1a 100644
--- a/src/nominatim_db/clicmd/refresh.py
+++ b/src/nominatim_db/clicmd/refresh.py
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ class UpdateRefresh:
                            help='Update secondary importance raster data')
         group.add_argument('--importance', action='store_true',
                            help='Recompute place importances (expensive!)')
+        group.add_argument('--ro-access', action='store_true',
+                           help='Grant read-only access to web user for all tables')
         group.add_argument('--website', action='store_true',
                            help='DEPRECATED. This function has no function anymore'
                                 ' and will be removed in a future version.')
@@ -159,6 +161,11 @@ class UpdateRefresh:
             LOG.error('WARNING: Website setup is no longer required. '
                       'This function will be removed in future version of Nominatim.')
 
+        if args.ro_access:
+            from ..tools import admin
+            LOG.warning('Grant read-only access to web user')
+            admin.grant_ro_access(args.config.get_libpq_dsn(), args.config)
+
         if args.data_object or args.data_area:
             with connect(args.config.get_libpq_dsn()) as conn:
                 for obj in args.data_object or []:
diff --git a/src/nominatim_db/tools/admin.py b/src/nominatim_db/tools/admin.py
index b8e3cb56..15446bb7 100644
--- a/src/nominatim_db/tools/admin.py
+++ b/src/nominatim_db/tools/admin.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ from psycopg.types.json import Json
 from ..typing import DictCursorResult
 from ..config import Configuration
 from ..db.connection import connect, Cursor, register_hstore
+from ..db.sql_preprocessor import SQLPreprocessor
 from ..errors import UsageError
 from ..tokenizer import factory as tokenizer_factory
 from ..data.place_info import PlaceInfo
@@ -105,3 +106,12 @@ def clean_deleted_relations(config: Configuration, age: str) -> None:
             except psycopg.DataError as exc:
                 raise UsageError('Invalid PostgreSQL time interval format') from exc
         conn.commit()
+
+
+def grant_ro_access(dsn: str, config: Configuration) -> None:
+    """ Grant read-only access to the web user for all Nominatim tables.
+        This can be used to grant access to a different user after import.
+    """
+    with connect(dsn) as conn:
+        sql = SQLPreprocessor(conn, config)
+        sql.run_sql_file(conn, 'grants.sql')
diff --git a/src/nominatim_db/tools/database_import.py b/src/nominatim_db/tools/database_import.py
index 0b26878f..2131a88b 100644
--- a/src/nominatim_db/tools/database_import.py
+++ b/src/nominatim_db/tools/database_import.py
@@ -157,6 +157,8 @@ def create_tables(conn: Connection, config: Configuration, reverse_only: bool =
 
     sql.run_sql_file(conn, 'tables.sql')
 
+    sql.run_sql_file(conn, 'grants.sql')
+
 
 def create_table_triggers(conn: Connection, config: Configuration) -> None:
     """ Create the triggers for the tables. The trigger functions must already
diff --git a/src/nominatim_db/tools/freeze.py b/src/nominatim_db/tools/freeze.py
index 92bcc748..32d707e1 100644
--- a/src/nominatim_db/tools/freeze.py
+++ b/src/nominatim_db/tools/freeze.py
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ UPDATE_TABLES = [
     'address_levels',
     'gb_postcode',
     'import_osmosis_log',
-    'import_polygon_%',
     'location_area%',
     'location_road%',
     'place',
diff --git a/test/python/tools/test_database_import.py b/test/python/tools/test_database_import.py
index f3d388da..413fac56 100644
--- a/test/python/tools/test_database_import.py
+++ b/test/python/tools/test_database_import.py
@@ -201,6 +201,8 @@ class TestSetupSQL:
                        """CREATE FUNCTION test() RETURNS bool
                           AS $$ SELECT {{db.reverse_only}} $$ LANGUAGE SQL""")
 
+        self.write_sql('grants.sql', "-- Mock grants file for testing\n")
+
         database_import.create_tables(temp_db_conn, self.config, reverse)
 
         temp_db_cursor.scalar('SELECT test()') == reverse