diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 4bd1f44..4e5d547 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -37,6 +37,11 @@ services:
     build:
       context: .
       dockerfile: src/Client/Dockerfile
+    # Doesn't fix the DNS race on its own (nginx.conf's lazy resolver does
+    # that) — just avoids nginx crashing into a restart loop for no reason
+    # by not starting client before `server` exists at all.
+    depends_on:
+      - server
     # Loopback-only in production, where a host-level nginx (TLS + the real
     # domain) is the actual public entry point and proxies here — see
     # docs/DEPLOY.md. For local `docker compose up`, still reachable at
diff --git a/src/Client/nginx.conf b/src/Client/nginx.conf
index 9a5e186..c0e47bc 100644
--- a/src/Client/nginx.conf
+++ b/src/Client/nginx.conf
@@ -2,11 +2,23 @@ server {
     listen 80;
     root /usr/share/nginx/html;
 
-    # No trailing slash on proxy_pass here — the full matched URI (including
-    # the /api/ prefix) is forwarded unchanged, matching Giraffe's route
-    # definitions in Server/Routes.fs, which all start with /api/.
+    # `server` is resolved as a variable (not a plain hostname in proxy_pass)
+    # so nginx uses Docker's embedded DNS resolver *lazily, per request*
+    # instead of resolving it once at config-load time. A static
+    # `proxy_pass http://server:8080;` fails permanently at nginx startup
+    # ("host not found in upstream") if the `server` container isn't already
+    # registered in Docker's DNS yet — a real race on a fully fresh
+    # `docker compose up` that starts every container at once, since nginx
+    # doesn't retry once it's already crashed.
+    resolver 127.0.0.11 valid=10s;
+
+    # No trailing slash on the proxy_pass target — the full matched URI
+    # (including the /api/ prefix) is forwarded unchanged, matching
+    # Giraffe's route definitions in Server/Routes.fs, which all start
+    # with /api/.
     location /api/ {
-        proxy_pass http://server:8080;
+        set $upstream_server http://server:8080;
+        proxy_pass $upstream_server;
         proxy_set_header Host $host;
         proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
         proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;