diff --git a/docker-compose.vhr18.yml b/docker-compose.vhr18.yml
index c477bb70fb10c6961293ef995fa5c3da101bdea3..1310192c580e62ce7bda6515bb7411b6bacb6757 100644
--- a/docker-compose.vhr18.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.vhr18.yml
@@ -63,11 +63,13 @@ services:
         target: /cache-db
     env_file:
       - env/vhr18.env
+      - env/vhr18_db.env
       - env/vhr18_obs.env
     environment:
       INSTANCE_ID: "prism-view-server_cache"
       RENDERER_HOST: renderer
-      WAIT_SERVICES: "database:5432"
+      WAIT_SERVICES: "database:5432 renderer:80"
+      WAIT_TIMEOUT: 300  # wait up to 5 minutes
     deploy:
       replicas: 1
     networks:
@@ -130,7 +132,8 @@ services:
       SCALEFACTOR: "1"
       IN_MEMORY: "false"
       INIT_SCRIPTS: "/configure.sh /init-db.sh"
-      WAIT_SERVICES: "redis:6379 database:5432"
+      WAIT_SERVICES: "redis:6379 database:5432 renderer:80"
+      WAIT_TIMEOUT: 300  # wait up to 5 minutes
     configs:
       - source: init-db
         target: /init-db.sh