diff --git a/docker/webapp/init.sh b/docker/webapp/init.sh
index e455b93e..4ba998e3 100755
--- a/docker/webapp/init.sh
+++ b/docker/webapp/init.sh
@@ -1,109 +1,119 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e
 set -x
 
 cd /opt/app-root/src/
 
 # Update the sourcecode if available.
 # This also copies the .env files that is required if we don't provide
 # a configuration via the environment.
 # So we need this for the docker-compose setup
 if [ -d /src/kolabsrc.orig ]; then
     echo "----> Updating source"
     rsync -av \
         --exclude=vendor \
         --exclude=composer.lock \
         --exclude=node_modules \
         --exclude=package-lock.json \
         --exclude=public \
         --exclude=storage \
         --exclude=resources/build \
         --exclude=bootstrap \
         --exclude=.gitignore \
         /src/kolabsrc.orig/ /opt/app-root/src/ | tee /tmp/rsync.output
 
     rm -rf storage/framework
     mkdir -p storage/framework/{sessions,views,cache}
 
     find bootstrap/cache/ -type f ! -name ".gitignore" -delete
     ./artisan clear-compiled
     ./artisan cache:clear
 
     php -dmemory_limit=-1 $(command -v composer) install
 fi
 
 if [ ! -f 'resources/countries.php' ]; then
     echo "----> Importing countries"
     ./artisan data:countries
 fi
 
 echo "----> Waiting for db"
 ./artisan db:ping --wait
 
+
+function is_not_initialized() {
+    ROWCOUNT=$(echo "select count(*) from migrations;" | mysql -N -b -u "$DB_USERNAME" -p"$DB_PASSWORD" -h "$DB_HOST" "$DB_DATABASE")
+    if [[ "$ROWCOUNT" == "" ]]; then
+        # Treat an error in the above command as uninitialized
+        ROWCOUNT="0"
+    fi
+    [[ "$ROWCOUNT" == "0" ]]
+}
+
 case ${KOLAB_ROLE} in
     seed|SEED)
-        # seed only if not seeded yet
-        if [[ ! $(./artisan migrate:status > /dev/null) ]]; then
+        echo "----> Running seeder"
+        # Only run the seeder if we haven't even migrated yet.
+        if is_not_initialized; then
             echo "----> Seeding the database"
-            php -dmemory_limit=512M ./artisan migrate --seed
+            # If we seed, we always drop all existing tables
+            php -dmemory_limit=512M ./artisan migrate:fresh --seed
         fi
     ;;
 
     horizon|HORIZON)
 
         echo "----> Waiting for database to be seeded"
-        # migrate:status only fails if the migration table doesn't exist
-        while [[ $(./artisan migrate:status > /dev/null) ]]; do
+        while is_not_initialized; do
             sleep 1
             echo "."
         done
 
         echo "----> Running migrations"
         php -dmemory_limit=512M ./artisan migrate --force || :
         echo "----> Starting horizon"
         ./artisan horizon
     ;;
 
     octane|OCTANE)
         echo "----> Running octane"
         echo "----> Waiting for database to be seeded"
-        # migrate:status only fails if the migration table doesn't exist
-        while [[ $(./artisan migrate:status > /dev/null) ]]; do
+        while is_not_initialized; do
             sleep 1
             echo "."
         done
 
         exec ./artisan octane:start --host=0.0.0.0
     ;;
 
     worker|WORKER )
         ./artisan migrate --force || :
         echo "----> Running worker"
         exec ./artisan queue:work
     ;;
 
     combined|COMBINED )
         # If there is no db at all then listing users will crash (resulting in us counting the lines of backtrace),
         # but migrate:status will just fail.
-        if [[ ! $(./artisan migrate:status > /dev/null) ]]; then
+        if is_not_initialized; then
             echo "----> Seeding the database"
             php -dmemory_limit=512M ./artisan migrate --seed || :
         # If there is a db but no user we reseed
         elif test "$( env APP_DEBUG=false ./artisan -n users | wc -l )" -lt "1"; then
             echo "----> Initializing the database"
             php -dmemory_limit=512M ./artisan migrate:refresh --seed
         # Otherwise we just migrate
         else
             echo "----> Running migrations"
             php -dmemory_limit=512M ./artisan migrate --force
         fi
         ./artisan data:import || :
         nohup ./artisan horizon 2>&1 &
         exec ./artisan octane:start --host=$(env | grep OCTANE_HTTP_HOST | tail -n1 | sed "s/OCTANE_HTTP_HOST=//")
     ;;
 
     * )
         echo "----> Sleeping"
         exec sleep 10000
     ;;
 esac