diff --git a/core/archipelago/src/api/rpc/package/stacks.rs b/core/archipelago/src/api/rpc/package/stacks.rs
index 84c69ab4..b871839a 100644
--- a/core/archipelago/src/api/rpc/package/stacks.rs
+++ b/core/archipelago/src/api/rpc/package/stacks.rs
@@ -434,6 +434,13 @@ async fn wait_for_stack_containers(
     containers: &[&str],
     timeout_secs: u64,
 ) -> Result<()> {
+    // A container can exit on its first start because a dependency (db, redis,
+    // the bitcoin node) was not quite ready — a transient crash, not a broken
+    // install. Restart each exited container a bounded number of times before
+    // declaring the install failed (#25). The runtime supervisor keeps it alive
+    // afterwards, but we want a healthy state by the time install returns.
+    const MAX_RESTARTS: u32 = 3;
+    let mut restarts: std::collections::HashMap<String, u32> = std::collections::HashMap::new();
     let deadline = std::time::Instant::now() + std::time::Duration::from_secs(timeout_secs);
     loop {
         let mut pending = Vec::new();
@@ -449,20 +456,38 @@ async fn wait_for_stack_containers(
                     match state.as_str() {
                         "running" => {}
                         "exited" | "dead" => {
-                            let logs = stack_container_logs(container, 40).await;
-                            install_log(&format!(
-                                "INSTALL CRASH: {} - container {} exited. Logs:\n{}",
-                                stack_name,
-                                container,
-                                logs.chars().take(1000).collect::<String>()
-                            ))
-                            .await;
-                            return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
-                                "{} container {} exited after install. Logs: {}",
-                                stack_name,
-                                container,
-                                logs.chars().take(500).collect::<String>()
-                            ));
+                            let attempts = restarts.entry(container.to_string()).or_insert(0);
+                            if *attempts < MAX_RESTARTS {
+                                *attempts += 1;
+                                install_log(&format!(
+                                    "INSTALL RESTART: {} - container {} exited, restart attempt {}/{}",
+                                    stack_name, container, *attempts, MAX_RESTARTS
+                                ))
+                                .await;
+                                let _ = podman_stack_output(
+                                    &["start", container],
+                                    PODMAN_STACK_PROBE_TIMEOUT,
+                                )
+                                .await;
+                                pending.push(format!("{}=restarting({}/{})", container, *attempts, MAX_RESTARTS));
+                            } else {
+                                let logs = stack_container_logs(container, 40).await;
+                                install_log(&format!(
+                                    "INSTALL CRASH: {} - container {} exited after {} restarts. Logs:\n{}",
+                                    stack_name,
+                                    container,
+                                    MAX_RESTARTS,
+                                    logs.chars().take(1000).collect::<String>()
+                                ))
+                                .await;
+                                return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
+                                    "{} container {} exited after install ({} restarts). Logs: {}",
+                                    stack_name,
+                                    container,
+                                    MAX_RESTARTS,
+                                    logs.chars().take(500).collect::<String>()
+                                ));
+                            }
                         }
                         other => pending.push(format!("{}={}", container, other)),
                     }