diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index c514b68..5bcb5fe 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -15,13 +15,21 @@ services:
       - DEMO_IDHUB_PREDEFINED_TOKEN=${IDHUB_PREDEFINED_TOKEN:-}
       - PREDEFINED_TOKEN=${PREDEFINED_TOKEN:-}
       - DPP=${DPP:-false}
+      - DB_PORT=${DB_PORT:-5432}
+      - DB_HOST=${DB_HOST:-devicehub-postgres}
+      - DB_NAME=${DB_NAME}
+      - DB_USER=${DB_USER}
+      - DB_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD}
     # TODO manage volumes dev vs prod
     volumes:
       - .:/opt/devicehub-django
     ports:
       - ${DEVICEHUB_PORT:-8000}:${DEVICEHUB_PORT:-8000}
+     #https://docs.docker.com/compose/how-tos/startup-order/
     depends_on:
-      - devicehub-postgres
+      devicehub-postgres:
+          condition: service_healthy
+          restart: true
 
   devicehub-postgres:
     image: postgres:17
@@ -31,6 +39,13 @@ services:
       - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD}
     volumes:
       - pg_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
+    healthcheck:
+    # https://docs.docker.com/compose/how-tos/startup-order/
+      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U ${DB_USER} -d ${DB_NAME}"]
+      start_period: 1s
+      interval: 1s
+      timeout: 10s
+      retries: 10
   #ports:
   #  - ${DB_PORT}:${DB_PORT}
 
diff --git a/docker/devicehub-django.entrypoint.sh b/docker/devicehub-django.entrypoint.sh
index 8f6f801..20b8802 100644
--- a/docker/devicehub-django.entrypoint.sh
+++ b/docker/devicehub-django.entrypoint.sh
@@ -5,18 +5,6 @@ set -u
 # DEBUG
 set -x
 
-program_dir='/opt/devicehub-django'
-#source .env
-. "${program_dir}/.env"
-
-wait_for_postgres() {
-        # thanks https://testdriven.io/blog/dockerizing-django-with-postgres-gunicorn-and-nginx/
-        while ! nc -z "$DB_HOST" "$DB_PORT" ; do
-                sleep 0.5
-        done
-}
-
-
 # TODO there is a conflict between two shared vars
 #   1. from the original docker compose devicehub-teal
 #   2. from the new docker compose that integrates all dpp services
@@ -46,12 +34,6 @@ gen_env_vars() {
         ADMIN='True'
         PREDEFINED_TOKEN="${PREDEFINED_TOKEN:-}"
 
-        DB_NAME="${DB_NAME:-devicehub}"
-        DB_USER="${DB_USER:-ereuse}"
-        DB_PASSWORD="${DB_PASSWORD:-ereuse}"
-        DB_HOST="${DB_HOST:-localhost}"
-        DB_PORT="${DB_PORT:-5432}"
-
         # specific dpp env vars
         if [ "${DPP:-}" = 'true' ]; then
                 # fill env vars in this docker entrypoint
@@ -260,9 +242,10 @@ runserver() {
 }
 
 main() {
+
+        program_dir='/opt/devicehub-django'
         cd "${program_dir}"
         gen_env_vars
-        wait_for_postgres
         deploy
         runserver
 }