diff --git a/cluster/apps/gitea/gitea-db.yml b/cluster/apps/gitea/gitea-db.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b5fcedc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cluster/apps/gitea/gitea-db.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+---
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: gitea-db
+  namespace: default
+spec:
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app: gitea-db
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        app: gitea-db
+    spec:
+      initContainers:
+      - name: init-cleanup
+        image: busybox
+        command: ["rm", "-rf", "/var/lib/postgresql/data/lost+found"]
+        volumeMounts:
+        - name: db
+          mountPath: /var/lib/postgresql/data
+      containers:
+      - name: gitea-db
+        image: postgres:15.10
+        ports:
+        - containerPort: 5432
+        env:
+        - name: POSTGRES_USER
+          value: "gitea"
+        - name: POSTGRES_PASSWORD
+          valueFrom:
+            secretKeyRef:
+              name: gitea-db-secret
+              key: password
+        - name: POSTGRES_DB
+          value: "gitea"
+        volumeMounts:
+        - name: db
+          mountPath: /var/lib/postgresql/data
+      volumes:
+      - name: db
+        persistentVolumeClaim:
+          claimName: longhorn-gitea-db
diff --git a/cluster/apps/gitea/gitea-svc.yml b/cluster/apps/gitea/gitea-svc.yml
index 58cfdb5..0607c1b 100644
--- a/cluster/apps/gitea/gitea-svc.yml
+++ b/cluster/apps/gitea/gitea-svc.yml
@@ -40,3 +40,17 @@ spec:
     - protocol: TCP
       port: 3000
       targetPort: 3000
+
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Service
+metadata:
+  name: gitea-db-service
+  namespace: default
+spec:
+  selector:
+    app: gitea-db
+  ports:
+    - protocol: TCP
+      port: 5432
+      targetPort: 5432
diff --git a/cluster/apps/gitea/gitea.yml b/cluster/apps/gitea/gitea.yml
index efbea93..8f094e6 100644
--- a/cluster/apps/gitea/gitea.yml
+++ b/cluster/apps/gitea/gitea.yml
@@ -15,28 +15,16 @@ spec:
         app: gitea-app
     spec:
       initContainers:
-      - name: init-cleanup
+      - name: wait-for-db
         image: busybox
-        command: ["rm", "-rf", "/var/lib/postgresql/data/lost+found"]
-        volumeMounts:
-        - name: db
-          mountPath: /var/lib/postgresql/data
-      - name: gitea-db
-        image: postgres:15.10
-        restartPolicy: Always
-        env:
-        - name: POSTGRES_USER
-          value: "gitea"
-        - name: POSTGRES_PASSWORD
-          valueFrom:
-            secretKeyRef:
-              name: gitea-db-secret
-              key: password
-        - name: POSTGRES_DB
-          value: "gitea"
-        volumeMounts:
-        - name: db
-          mountPath: /var/lib/postgresql/data
+        command:
+        - sh
+        - -c
+        - |
+          until nc -z -v -w30 gitea-db-service 5432; do
+            echo "Waiting for psql database to be ready"
+            sleep 2
+          done
       containers:
       - name: gitea
         image: gitea/gitea:1.23.8
@@ -51,7 +39,7 @@ spec:
         - name: GITEA__database__DB_TYPE
           value: "postgres"
         - name: GITEA__database__HOST
-          value: "localhost:5432"
+          value: "gitea-db-service:5432"
         - name: GITEA__database__NAME
           value: "gitea"
         - name: GITEA__database__USER
@@ -81,6 +69,3 @@ spec:
       - name: gitea-data
         persistentVolumeClaim:
           claimName: longhorn-gitea
-      - name: db
-        persistentVolumeClaim:
-          claimName: longhorn-gitea-db