diff --git a/backend/app/db_wait.py b/backend/app/db_wait.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..96dc8f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/app/db_wait.py
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+"""Database readiness helper: wait until the DB is reachable and tables exist.
+
+Used by the worker process to avoid crashing when the backend hasn't yet
+finished running `init_db()` (which creates tables). Worker starts in parallel
+with backend in docker-compose and may come up first.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import asyncio
+
+from sqlalchemy import inspect, select, text
+
+from app.db import AsyncSessionLocal, Base, engine
+from app.logging_setup import get_logger
+from app.models import Setting
+
+log = get_logger("db_wait")
+
+
+async def wait_for_db(
+    max_retries: int = 60,
+    delay: float = 2.0,
+    required_tables: tuple[str, ...] = ("settings",),
+) -> None:
+    """Block until the database is reachable AND all `required_tables` exist.
+
+    Retries on connection errors and on missing-table errors. Logs progress.
+    Raises the last error after `max_retries` attempts.
+    """
+    last_err: Exception | None = None
+    for attempt in range(1, max_retries + 1):
+        try:
+            # Check raw connectivity
+            async with engine.connect() as conn:
+                await conn.execute(text("SELECT 1"))
+
+            # Check that required tables exist
+            async with engine.connect() as conn:
+                existing = await conn.run_sync(
+                    lambda sync_conn: set(inspect(sync_conn).get_table_names())
+                )
+            missing = [t for t in required_tables if t not in existing]
+            if missing:
+                raise RuntimeError(f"required tables not yet created: {missing}")
+
+            # Smoke-test the `settings` table specifically (the worker's first query)
+            async with AsyncSessionLocal() as db:
+                await db.execute(select(Setting).limit(1))
+
+            log.info("db_ready", attempt=attempt)
+            return
+        except Exception as e:
+            last_err = e
+            log.warning(
+                "db_not_ready_retry",
+                attempt=attempt,
+                max_retries=max_retries,
+                error=f"{type(e).__name__}: {e}",
+            )
+            await asyncio.sleep(delay)
+
+    # Exhausted retries — surface the last error so the caller can decide.
+    assert last_err is not None
+    raise last_err
+
+
+async def wait_for_db_or_exit(
+    max_retries: int = 60,
+    delay: float = 2.0,
+    required_tables: tuple[str, ...] = ("settings",),
+) -> None:
+    """Like `wait_for_db`, but exits the process with code 1 on failure.
+
+    Useful as the very first call in the worker entrypoint so it doesn't
+    spam logs forever if the DB is genuinely unreachable.
+    """
+    try:
+        await wait_for_db(max_retries=max_retries, delay=delay, required_tables=required_tables)
+    except Exception as e:
+        log.error("db_wait_exhausted", error=f"{type(e).__name__}: {e}")
+        raise SystemExit(1)