diff --git a/docker/dev/docker-start b/docker/dev/docker-start
index 25ba09f15..d5721125c 100755
--- a/docker/dev/docker-start
+++ b/docker/dev/docker-start
@@ -10,4 +10,17 @@ rm -f /tmp/.s.PGSQL.*
 rm -f /var/log/api-umbrella/trafficserver/error.log
 
 make
+
+# Wait for PostgreSQL to be ready before running database setup.
+echo "Waiting for PostgreSQL to be ready..."
+until PGPASSWORD=dev_password psql -h postgres -U postgres -c '\q' 2>/dev/null; do
+  echo "PostgreSQL is unavailable - sleeping"
+  sleep 1
+done
+echo "PostgreSQL is ready"
+
+# Run database setup as postgres superuser to create the database and roles.
+# This is idempotent and safe to run on every startup.
+DB_USERNAME=postgres DB_PASSWORD=dev_password api-umbrella db-setup
+
 api-umbrella run
diff --git a/src/api-umbrella/cli.lua b/src/api-umbrella/cli.lua
index b7c5ad1cd..00a830d8f 100644
--- a/src/api-umbrella/cli.lua
+++ b/src/api-umbrella/cli.lua
@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@ function _M.db_setup()
   db_setup()
 end
 
+function _M.db_drop()
+  local db_drop = require "api-umbrella.cli.db_drop"
+  db_drop()
+end
+
 function _M.migrate()
   local migrate = require "api-umbrella.cli.migrate"
   migrate()
@@ -140,6 +145,10 @@ parser:command("db-setup")
   :description("Run the initial database setup task.")
   :action(_M.db_setup)
 
+parser:command("db-drop")
+  :description("Drop the database.")
+  :action(_M.db_drop)
+
 parser:command("migrate")
   :description("Run the database migrations task.")
   :action(_M.migrate)
diff --git a/src/api-umbrella/cli/db_drop.lua b/src/api-umbrella/cli/db_drop.lua
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fdf37c836
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/api-umbrella/cli/db_drop.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+local pg_utils = require "api-umbrella.utils.pg_utils"
+
+return function()
+  local database = pg_utils.db_config["database"]
+
+  pg_utils.db_config["database"] = "postgres"
+  pg_utils.db_config["user"] = os.getenv("DB_USERNAME")
+  pg_utils.db_config["password"] = os.getenv("DB_PASSWORD")
+
+  pg_utils.query("DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS :database", { database = pg_utils.identifier(database) }, { verbose = true, fatal = true })
+end