diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 37fa49148061ed1b4c55ac98b47576690c4605a0..fe1c4269cf4ec2860f9126f541afee1d17644c64 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -85,11 +85,11 @@ test:
     - apk add --update py-pip
     - pip install -r requirements.txt
     - pytest
-    - chmod +x env_setup.sh
+    - chmod +x env_setup.sh wait_for_container.sh
     - ./env_setup.sh
     - docker swarm init
     - docker stack deploy -c docker-compose.vhr18.yml -c docker-compose.vhr18.dev.yml vhr18-pvs
-    - sleep 30
+    - ./wait_for_container.sh
     - docker ps
     - docker ps -qf "name=vhr18-pvs_renderer"
     # - docker exec -it $(docker ps -qf "name=vhr18-pvs_renderer") python3 /var/www/pvs/dev/pvs_instance/manage.py id list
diff --git a/wait_for_container.sh b/wait_for_container.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..41399ace1731c63f55db25905c4e6e9737c47ec2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wait_for_container.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+until $(docker ps -qf "name=vhr18-pvs_renderer"); do
+    >&2 echo "Container is unavailable - sleeping"
+    sleep 15
+  done
\ No newline at end of file