diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
deleted file mode 100644
index 0be3edc..0000000
--- a/.env.example
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-# Backend
-PORT=4000
-JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret
-DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:postgres@db:5432/whats_the_point
-# Frontend
-VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:4000
diff --git a/backend/src/db/index.js b/backend/src/db/index.js
index df1e692..706b1cb 100644
--- a/backend/src/db/index.js
+++ b/backend/src/db/index.js
@@ -9,18 +9,42 @@ const __dirname = path.dirname(__filename);
 let pool;
 
 export const initDB = async () => {
-  const dbConfig = {
+  const dbName = process.env.DB_NAME || 'whats_the_point';
+  
+  // First connect without specifying database to create it if needed
+  const baseConfig = {
     host: process.env.DB_HOST || 'db',
     user: process.env.DB_USER || 'root',
     password: process.env.DB_PASSWORD || 'root',
-    database: process.env.DB_NAME || 'whats_the_point',
     waitForConnections: true,
     connectionLimit: 10,
     queueLimit: 0,
     multipleStatements: true
   };
 
-  // Create pool
+  // Create temporary pool to create database
+  const tempPool = mysql.createPool(baseConfig);
+  
+  try {
+    const connection = await tempPool.getConnection();
+    
+    // Create database if it doesn't exist
+    await connection.query(`CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS \`${dbName}\``);
+    console.log(`✅ Database '${dbName}' ready`);
+    connection.release();
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error('❌ Failed to create database:', error);
+    throw error;
+  } finally {
+    await tempPool.end();
+  }
+
+  // Now connect to the specific database
+  const dbConfig = {
+    ...baseConfig,
+    database: dbName
+  };
+
   pool = mysql.createPool(dbConfig);
 
   // Test connection and run init script
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 2af8f70..b176fdd 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,16 +1,20 @@
 version: '3.8'
 services:
   db:
-    image: linuxserver/mariadb
+    image: mariadb:10.11
     restart: unless-stopped
     environment:
       MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: rootpassword
       MYSQL_DATABASE: whats_the_point
-      TZ: America/Toronto
     volumes:
-      - db_data:/config
+      - db_data:/var/lib/mysql
     ports:
       - "3306:3306"
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "healthcheck.sh", "--connect", "--innodb_initialized"]
+      interval: 10s
+      timeout: 5s
+      retries: 5
 
   web:
     build: .
@@ -24,7 +28,8 @@ services:
       DB_NAME: whats_the_point
       TMDB_API_KEY: your_tmdb_api_key_here
     depends_on:
-      - db
+      db:
+        condition: service_healthy
     ports:
       - "4000:4000"
     volumes: