diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 474d89b..5ec3a05 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ RUN install_packages \
 COPY mediagoblin_local.ini.template /app/mediagoblin_local.ini.template
 COPY uwsgi.yaml /etc/uwsgi/apps-enabled/mediagoblin.yaml
 COPY nginx.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/mediagoblin.conf
+COPY wait-for /sbin/wait-for
 COPY run.sh /sbin/run.sh
 
 RUN addgroup --system mediagoblin \
diff --git a/run.sh b/run.sh
index 045fe43..4b6d016 100644
--- a/run.sh
+++ b/run.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ envsubst < /app/mediagoblin_local.ini.template > /app/mediagoblin_local.ini
 chown mediagoblin.www-data /app/mediagoblin_local.ini
 su - mediagoblin --command "cd /app && gmg dbupdate"
 
+# Wait for the database to come up.
+database_host=$(echo $DATABASE_URL | cut -d @ -f 2 | cut -d / -f 1)
+/sbin/wait-for ${database_host}:5432
+
 # Run uWSGI and Nginx.
 chown mediagoblin.www-data /app/user_dev
 /usr/bin/uwsgi --uid mediagoblin --gid www-data --master --workers 3 /etc/uwsgi/apps-enabled/mediagoblin.yaml \
diff --git a/wait-for b/wait-for
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ddfc39e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wait-for
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+TIMEOUT=15
+QUIET=0
+
+echoerr() {
+  if [ "$QUIET" -ne 1 ]; then printf "%s\n" "$*" 1>&2; fi
+}
+
+usage() {
+  exitcode="$1"
+  cat << USAGE >&2
+Usage:
+  $cmdname host:port [-t timeout] [-- command args]
+  -q | --quiet                        Do not output any status messages
+  -t TIMEOUT | --timeout=timeout      Timeout in seconds, zero for no timeout
+  -- COMMAND ARGS                     Execute command with args after the test finishes
+USAGE
+  exit "$exitcode"
+}
+
+wait_for() {
+  for i in `seq $TIMEOUT` ; do
+    nc -z "$HOST" "$PORT" > /dev/null 2>&1
+    
+    result=$?
+    if [ $result -eq 0 ] ; then
+      if [ $# -gt 0 ] ; then
+        exec "$@"
+      fi
+      exit 0
+    fi
+    sleep 1
+  done
+  echo "Operation timed out" >&2
+  exit 1
+}
+
+while [ $# -gt 0 ]
+do
+  case "$1" in
+    *:* )
+    HOST=$(printf "%s\n" "$1"| cut -d : -f 1)
+    PORT=$(printf "%s\n" "$1"| cut -d : -f 2)
+    shift 1
+    ;;
+    -q | --quiet)
+    QUIET=1
+    shift 1
+    ;;
+    -t)
+    TIMEOUT="$2"
+    if [ "$TIMEOUT" = "" ]; then break; fi
+    shift 2
+    ;;
+    --timeout=*)
+    TIMEOUT="${1#*=}"
+    shift 1
+    ;;
+    --)
+    shift
+    break
+    ;;
+    --help)
+    usage 0
+    ;;
+    *)
+    echoerr "Unknown argument: $1"
+    usage 1
+    ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+if [ "$HOST" = "" -o "$PORT" = "" ]; then
+  echoerr "Error: you need to provide a host and port to test."
+  usage 2
+fi
+
+wait_for "$@"