diff --git a/docker/entrypoint-initializer.sh b/docker/entrypoint-initializer.sh
index 08e77dc46ca..178349073ff 100755
--- a/docker/entrypoint-initializer.sh
+++ b/docker/entrypoint-initializer.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+set -e  # needed to handle "exit" correctly
+
 . /secret-file-loader.sh
 . /reach_database.sh
 
diff --git a/docker/reach_database.sh b/docker/reach_database.sh
index 819f69282e3..2edcdc9eca1 100644
--- a/docker/reach_database.sh
+++ b/docker/reach_database.sh
@@ -13,4 +13,11 @@ wait_for_database_to_be_reachable() {
         exit 1
     fi
     done
+    cat <<EOD | python manage.py shell
+from django.db import connections
+from django.db.utils import OperationalError
+db_conn = connections['default']
+c = db_conn.cursor()
+EOD
+    exit $?
 }
\ No newline at end of file