diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 81aa63e60..8553671bb 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -19,13 +19,14 @@ EXPOSE 80/tcp
 
 ENV FLASK_APP=files/cli:app
 
+CMD [ "bootstrap/init.sh" ]
+
 
 ###################################################################
 # Release container
 FROM base AS release
 
 COPY bootstrap/supervisord.conf.release /etc/supervisord.conf
-CMD [ "/usr/local/bin/supervisord", "-c", "/etc/supervisord.conf" ]
 
 
 ###################################################################
@@ -37,7 +38,6 @@ COPY thirdparty/sqlalchemy-easy-profile sqlalchemy-easy-profile
 RUN cd sqlalchemy-easy-profile && python3 setup.py install
 
 COPY bootstrap/supervisord.conf.dev /etc/supervisord.conf
-CMD [ "/usr/local/bin/supervisord", "-c", "/etc/supervisord.conf" ]
 
 
 ###################################################################
diff --git a/bootstrap/init.sh b/bootstrap/init.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..054238a19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bootstrap/init.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -euxo pipefail
+
+python3 -m flask db upgrade # this does not actually return error codes properly!
+
+/usr/local/bin/supervisord -c /etc/supervisord.conf
diff --git a/bootstrap/supervisord.conf.dev b/bootstrap/supervisord.conf.dev
index 3bf95b574..60a51bb6e 100644
--- a/bootstrap/supervisord.conf.dev
+++ b/bootstrap/supervisord.conf.dev
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ supervisor.rpcinterface_factory = supervisor.rpcinterface:make_main_rpcinterface
 
 [program:service]
 directory=/service
-command=sh -c 'python3 -m flask db upgrade && WERKZEUG_DEBUG_PIN=off ENABLE_SERVICES=true python3 -m flask --debug run --host=0.0.0.0 --port=80'
+command=sh -c 'WERKZEUG_DEBUG_PIN=off ENABLE_SERVICES=true python3 -m flask --debug run --host=0.0.0.0 --port=80'
 stdout_logfile=/dev/stdout
 stdout_logfile_maxbytes=0
 stderr_logfile=/dev/stderr
diff --git a/bootstrap/supervisord.conf.release b/bootstrap/supervisord.conf.release
index df0981f40..ab3843d6f 100644
--- a/bootstrap/supervisord.conf.release
+++ b/bootstrap/supervisord.conf.release
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ supervisor.rpcinterface_factory = supervisor.rpcinterface:make_main_rpcinterface
 
 [program:service]
 directory=/service
-command=sh -c 'python3 -m flask db upgrade && ENABLE_SERVICES=true gunicorn files.__main__:app -k gevent -w ${CORE_OVERRIDE:-$(( `nproc` * 2 ))} --reload -b 0.0.0.0:80 --max-requests 1000 --max-requests-jitter 500'
+command=sh -c 'ENABLE_SERVICES=true gunicorn files.__main__:app -k gevent -w ${CORE_OVERRIDE:-$(( `nproc` * 2 ))} --reload -b 0.0.0.0:80 --max-requests 1000 --max-requests-jitter 500'
 stdout_logfile=/dev/stdout
 stdout_logfile_maxbytes=0
 stderr_logfile=/dev/stderr