diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index d51f7c2..19294b5 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ The following environment variables control the configuration
 - `READY_FILE` (optional; wait for a file to be created before starting all services, e.g. to wait for chain synchronization)
 - `REMOVE_LOCK_FILES` (optional; remove leftover lockfiles from possible unclean shutdowns on startup)
 - `RESTORE_DEFAULT_CONFIG` (optional; overwrites any existing `joinmarket.cfg` file the container's default config on startup)
+- `WAIT_FOR_BITCOIND` (optional; wait for bitcoind to accept RPC request and report >= 100 blocks)
 
 Variables starting with prefix `JM_` will be applied to `joinmarket.cfg` e.g.:
 - `JM_GAPLIMIT: 2000` will set the `gaplimit` config value to `2000`
@@ -110,6 +111,7 @@ docker run --rm  -it \
         --env ENSURE_WALLET="true" \
         --env REMOVE_LOCK_FILES="true" \
         --env RESTORE_DEFAULT_CONFIG="true" \
+        --env WAIT_FOR_BITCOIND="true" \
         --volume jmdatadir:/root/.joinmarket \
         --publish "8080:80" \
         joinmarket-webui/jam-standalone
diff --git a/standalone/Dockerfile b/standalone/Dockerfile
index 0b650e6..7c637b4 100644
--- a/standalone/Dockerfile
+++ b/standalone/Dockerfile
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ RUN addgroup --system tor \
     && apt-get update \
     && apt-get install -qq --no-install-recommends --no-install-suggests -y \
     # image dependencies
-    tini iproute2 procps vim \
+    tini iproute2 procps vim jq \
     # servers dependencies (see `install.sh`)
     build-essential automake pkg-config libtool libltdl-dev python3-dev python3-setuptools python3-pip \
     # tor
diff --git a/standalone/jam-entrypoint.sh b/standalone/jam-entrypoint.sh
index b5692dd..5707ff5 100644
--- a/standalone/jam-entrypoint.sh
+++ b/standalone/jam-entrypoint.sh
@@ -75,15 +75,32 @@ done
 
 # wait for a ready file to be created if necessary
 if [ "${READY_FILE}" ] && [ "${READY_FILE}" != "false" ]; then
-    echo "Waiting for $READY_FILE to be created..."
+    echo "Waiting for file $READY_FILE to be created..."
     while [ ! -f "$READY_FILE" ]; do sleep 1; done
-    echo "The chain is fully synched"
+    echo "Successfully waited for file $READY_FILE to be created."
+fi
+
+btcuser="${jmenv['rpc_user']}:${jmenv['rpc_password']}"
+btchost="http://${jmenv['rpc_host']}:${jmenv['rpc_port']}"
+
+# wait for bitcoind to accept RPC requests if necessary
+if [ "${WAIT_FOR_BITCOIND}" = "true" ]; then
+    echo "Waiting for bitcoind to accept RPC requests..."
+    getblockchaininfo_payload="{\
+        \"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\
+        \"id\":\"curl\",\
+        \"method\":\"getblockchaininfo\",\
+        \"params\":{}\
+    }"
+    until curl --silent --user "${btcuser}" --data-binary "${getblockchaininfo_payload}" "${btchost}" | jq -e ".result.blocks >= 100" > /dev/null 2>&1
+    do
+        sleep 5
+    done
+    echo "Successfully waited for bitcoind to accept RPC requests."
 fi
 
 # ensure that a wallet exists and is loaded if necessary
 if [ "${ENSURE_WALLET}" = "true" ]; then
-    btcuser="${jmenv['rpc_user']}:${jmenv['rpc_password']}"
-    btchost="http://${jmenv['rpc_host']}:${jmenv['rpc_port']}"
     wallet_name="${jmenv['rpc_wallet_file']}"
 
     echo "Creating wallet $wallet_name if missing..."