diff --git a/bin/docker-setup b/bin/docker-setup
index 82c55293d..67e217ef9 100755
--- a/bin/docker-setup
+++ b/bin/docker-setup
@@ -1,10 +1,26 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env sh
 
+set -e
+
 echo "== Building Docker image (this may take a while) =="
 docker-compose build
 
+echo "== Ensuring Elasticsearch data directory is owned by the correct uid =="
+docker-compose run elasticsearch chown elasticsearch:elasticsearch /usr/share/elasticsearch/data
+
 echo "== Setting up database =="
-docker-compose run web rails db:setup db:migrate search:setup data_updates:run
+on_db_setup_failed() {
+  echo "Database setup failed with exit code $1." >&2
+  echo "" >&2
+  echo "Check the Docker logs using:" >&2
+  echo "    docker-compose logs" >&2
+  echo "" >&2
+  echo "Once you fixed the error, try running the script again." >&2
+  echo "To also delete all data, run this before retrying:" >&2
+  echo "    docker-compose down -v && sudo rm -rf docker_data" >&2
+  exit $1
+}
+docker-compose run web sh -c 'yarn global add wait-on && wait-on -t 30000 http-get://elasticsearch:9200/ && rails search:setup db:setup db:migrate data_updates:run' || on_db_setup_failed $?
 
 echo "== Starting app =="
 docker-compose up
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index ed0835c1f..7d5d7de78 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ services:
       REDIS_SESSIONS_URL: redis://redis:6379
     volumes:
       - .:/usr/src/app
+      - /usr/src/app/node_modules
     command: bundle exec rails server -b 0.0.0.0 -p 3000
   webpacker:
     build: .