diff --git a/src/membership-service/Program.cs b/src/membership-service/Program.cs
index 7c7ecb76..6bc0a0d6 100644
--- a/src/membership-service/Program.cs
+++ b/src/membership-service/Program.cs
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ private static void CreateDbIfNotExists(IHost host)
                 {
                     var logger = services.GetRequiredService<ILogger<Program>>();
                     logger.LogError(ex, "An error occurred creating the DB.");
+                    System.Environment.Exit(1);
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/src/membership-service/Startup.cs b/src/membership-service/Startup.cs
index 96697e35..6df8f672 100644
--- a/src/membership-service/Startup.cs
+++ b/src/membership-service/Startup.cs
@@ -49,8 +49,12 @@ public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
             string connectString = $"Server={dbHost};Port=3306;Database=memberships;user=root;password={dbPwd}";
             services.AddDbContext<MariaDbContext>(
                 options => options.UseMySql(
-                connectString,
-                    new MySqlServerVersion(new Version(10, 5, 8))
+                    connectString,
+                    new MySqlServerVersion(new Version(10, 5, 8)),
+                    options => options.EnableRetryOnFailure(
+                        maxRetryCount: 10,
+                        maxRetryDelay: System.TimeSpan.FromSeconds(60),
+                        errorNumbersToAdd: null)
                 )
             );