diff --git a/Dockerfile.backend b/Dockerfile.backend
index 4c4c9ae..30d5c0c 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.backend
+++ b/Dockerfile.backend
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@ RUN npm run build
 FROM node:22-alpine
 WORKDIR /app
 COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
+# schema.sql is read by the migrate script at runtime
+COPY server/src/db/schema.sql ./dist/db/schema.sql
 COPY server/package.json server/package-lock.json* ./
 RUN npm install --omit=dev
 EXPOSE 3001
-CMD ["node", "dist/index.js"]
+CMD ["sh", "-c", "node dist/db/migrate.js && node dist/index.js"]