diff --git a/services/db/docker-entrypoint.sh b/services/db/docker-entrypoint.sh
index 8a725c432d..49757343a1 100644
--- a/services/db/docker-entrypoint.sh
+++ b/services/db/docker-entrypoint.sh
@@ -206,6 +206,12 @@ apply_migrations_for_role() {
 # Init + migrations are then retried as a unit, and /tmp/.db_ready is touched ONLY
 # after both genuinely succeed, so dependents (gated on `.db_ready`) never start
 # against a half-initialized cluster.
+#
+# Clear the marker first: /tmp outlives a stop whenever the runtime keeps the
+# container's filesystem, as `docker restart` does. A marker left by the
+# previous start would report ready as soon as the server answers, before this
+# start's init scripts and migrations ran.
+rm -f /tmp/.db_ready
 (
     trap 'exit 0' SIGTERM SIGINT
     until pg_isready -h 127.0.0.1 -p 5432 -U "$POSTGRES_USER" >/dev/null 2>&1; do
diff --git a/services/db/docker-entrypoint.test.ts b/services/db/docker-entrypoint.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..430db8d11e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/db/docker-entrypoint.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+// The entrypoint publishes /tmp/.db_ready once this start's init scripts and
+// migrations finished, and the healthcheck reads it. /tmp outlives a stop
+// (`docker restart` keeps the container's filesystem), so a marker the
+// previous start left must be cleared before the server answers, or a restart
+// reports ready before its migrations ran.
+import { afterAll, describe, expect, test } from 'bun:test';
+import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import {
+  existsSync,
+  mkdirSync,
+  mkdtempSync,
+  readFileSync,
+  rmSync,
+  writeFileSync,
+} from 'node:fs';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+
+const MARKER = '/tmp/.db_ready';
+const source = readFileSync(
+  join(import.meta.dir, 'docker-entrypoint.sh'),
+  'utf8',
+);
+
+describe('docker-entrypoint.sh ready marker', () => {
+  test('the marker is cleared before the background init block that touches it', () => {
+    const lines = source.split('\n');
+    const code = (line: string) => !line.trimStart().startsWith('#');
+    const indexes = (match: (line: string) => boolean) =>
+      lines.flatMap((line, i) => (code(line) && match(line) ? [i] : []));
+
+    const clears = indexes((line) => line === `rm -f ${MARKER}`);
+    const touches = indexes((line) => line.includes(`touch ${MARKER}`));
+    const blockStart = lines.indexOf('(');
+    const blockEnd = lines.indexOf(') &', blockStart);
+
+    // One clear, at the top level: not inside a function or the block itself.
+    expect(clears).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(blockStart).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
+    expect(blockEnd).toBeGreaterThan(blockStart);
+    expect(touches).toHaveLength(1);
+    const [clear = -1] = clears;
+    const [touch = -1] = touches;
+    expect(clear).toBeLessThan(blockStart);
+    expect(touch).toBeGreaterThan(blockStart);
+    expect(touch).toBeLessThan(blockEnd);
+  });
+
+  // Run the real script with the server and its probe replaced by doubles on
+  // PATH. The fake server records whether the marker exists when it starts,
+  // then answers the probe and waits for the background block to publish it.
+  const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'tale-db-entrypoint-'));
+  afterAll(() => rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true }));
+
+  test(
+    'a restart reports ready only after its own init finished',
+    () => {
+      const bin = join(root, 'bin');
+      const state = join(root, 'state');
+      const marker = join(root, 'db_ready');
+      mkdirSync(bin);
+      mkdirSync(state);
+      writeFileSync(
+        join(bin, 'pg_isready'),
+        '#!/bin/sh\n[ -e "$TALE_DB_TEST_STATE/up" ]\n',
+        { mode: 0o755 },
+      );
+      writeFileSync(
+        join(bin, 'postgres-entrypoint.sh'),
+        [
+          '#!/bin/sh',
+          'if [ -e "$TALE_DB_TEST_MARKER" ]; then seen=present; else seen=absent; fi',
+          'echo "$seen" > "$TALE_DB_TEST_STATE/marker-at-start"',
+          'touch "$TALE_DB_TEST_STATE/up"',
+          'i=0',
+          'while [ ! -e "$TALE_DB_TEST_MARKER" ] && [ "$i" -lt 200 ]; do',
+          '  sleep 0.1',
+          '  i=$((i + 1))',
+          'done',
+          '',
+        ].join('\n'),
+        { mode: 0o755 },
+      );
+      // Redirect the marker and the baked-in config tree into the sandbox.
+      const script = join(root, 'docker-entrypoint.sh');
+      const rewritten = source
+        .replaceAll(MARKER, marker)
+        .replaceAll('/etc/postgresql', join(root, 'etc-postgresql'));
+      expect(rewritten).not.toContain(MARKER);
+      writeFileSync(script, rewritten, { mode: 0o755 });
+
+      const boot = () => {
+        rmSync(join(state, 'up'), { force: true });
+        rmSync(join(state, 'marker-at-start'), { force: true });
+        const run = spawnSync('bash', [script, 'postgres'], {
+          encoding: 'utf8',
+          timeout: 30_000,
+          env: {
+            PATH: `${bin}:${process.env.PATH ?? '/usr/bin:/bin'}`,
+            DB_PASSWORD: 'not-a-secret',
+            TALE_DB_ROLE: 'platform',
+            TALE_DB_TEST_STATE: state,
+            TALE_DB_TEST_MARKER: marker,
+          },
+        });
+        expect(run.stderr).toBe('');
+        expect(run.status).toBe(0);
+        expect(run.stdout).toContain('Database ready.');
+        return readFileSync(join(state, 'marker-at-start'), 'utf8').trim();
+      };
+
+      // First start: no marker yet, and init publishes it.
+      expect(boot()).toBe('absent');
+      expect(existsSync(marker)).toBe(true);
+      // Restart: the marker of the first start is still on disk, and must be
+      // gone before the server answers.
+      expect(boot()).toBe('absent');
+      expect(existsSync(marker)).toBe(true);
+    },
+    { timeout: 60_000 },
+  );
+});
diff --git a/services/db/package.json b/services/db/package.json
index 58f7c7e9a8..09bf9b4e03 100644
--- a/services/db/package.json
+++ b/services/db/package.json
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
     "setup": "echo 'Docker service - no local setup'",
     "serve": "docker compose up db -d && docker compose logs -f db",
     "build": "echo 'No build step'",
+    "test": "bun test",
     "docker:build": "docker compose build db",
     "logs": "docker compose logs -f db",
     "shell": "docker exec -it tale-db psql -U tale -d tale"