diff --git a/internal/db/db.go b/internal/db/db.go
index c696df4..acb5120 100644
--- a/internal/db/db.go
+++ b/internal/db/db.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"embed"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/fs"
+	"log"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -15,6 +16,19 @@ import (
 //go:embed migrations
 var migrationsFS embed.FS
 
+// pingAttempts and pingRetryDelay bound the retry on the first connection.
+// This pod's own IP can reach the Postgres pod's node before that node's
+// NetworkPolicy enforcement (kube-router, reacting to the pod's creation
+// event) has added it to the allowed-source set, which fails the ping with
+// "connection refused" rather than a timeout. That race resolves within
+// several seconds in practice; five attempts two seconds apart give it
+// comfortable room without turning a genuinely absent database into a long
+// hang.
+const (
+	pingAttempts   = 5
+	pingRetryDelay = 2 * time.Second
+)
+
 // Open connects to Postgres. dsn is a libpq connection string or URL, e.g.
 // postgres://terdut:secret@localhost:5432/terdut?sslmode=disable.
 //
@@ -33,11 +47,19 @@ func Open(dsn string) (*sql.DB, error) {
 	db.SetMaxOpenConns(10)
 	db.SetMaxIdleConns(5)
 	db.SetConnMaxLifetime(time.Hour)
-	if err := db.Ping(); err != nil {
-		db.Close()
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("ping: %w", err)
+
+	for attempt := 1; ; attempt++ {
+		err = db.Ping()
+		if err == nil {
+			return db, nil
+		}
+		if attempt == pingAttempts {
+			db.Close()
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("ping: %w", err)
+		}
+		log.Printf("open db: ping attempt %d/%d failed, retrying in %s: %v", attempt, pingAttempts, pingRetryDelay, err)
+		time.Sleep(pingRetryDelay)
 	}
-	return db, nil
 }
 
 // Migrate applies every embedded migration that has not been applied yet, in