diff --git a/ps-cache-kotlin/docker-compose.yml b/ps-cache-kotlin/docker-compose.yml
index ca799f2e..fc2ff39b 100644
--- a/ps-cache-kotlin/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/ps-cache-kotlin/docker-compose.yml
@@ -11,7 +11,21 @@ services:
       - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
       - ./init.sql:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/init.sql
     healthcheck:
-      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U postgres"]
+      # -h 127.0.0.1 is load-bearing: it forces a TCP probe.
+      #
+      # Without it pg_isready talks to the Unix socket, and postgres'
+      # docker-entrypoint runs a *temporary* server reachable only over that
+      # socket (listen_addresses='') once initdb has finished, to create the
+      # database and run docker-entrypoint-initdb.d. The socket therefore
+      # answers "accepting connections" while no TCP listener exists at all,
+      # so compose marks this service healthy and depends_on:
+      # service_healthy releases the dependent straight into ECONNREFUSED.
+      #
+      # Short but real: ~235ms with no initdb.d scripts, and 1.2s of
+      # false-healthy plus a 2.7s shutdown checkpoint in the CI failure this
+      # was diagnosed from. Only bites on a fresh volume -- a populated one
+      # skips the temporary server entirely, which is why it failed rarely.
+      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -h 127.0.0.1 -U postgres"]
       interval: 2s
       timeout: 5s
       retries: 5
diff --git a/sap-demo-java/docker-compose.yml b/sap-demo-java/docker-compose.yml
index 93faf890..bfce0100 100644
--- a/sap-demo-java/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/sap-demo-java/docker-compose.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,21 @@ services:
     volumes:
       - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
     healthcheck:
-      test: ["CMD", "pg_isready", "-U", "customer360", "-d", "customer360"]
+      # -h 127.0.0.1 is load-bearing: it forces a TCP probe.
+      #
+      # Without it pg_isready talks to the Unix socket, and postgres'
+      # docker-entrypoint runs a *temporary* server reachable only over that
+      # socket (listen_addresses='') once initdb has finished, to create the
+      # database and run docker-entrypoint-initdb.d. The socket therefore
+      # answers "accepting connections" while no TCP listener exists at all,
+      # so compose marks this service healthy and depends_on:
+      # service_healthy releases customer360 straight into ECONNREFUSED.
+      #
+      # Short but real: ~235ms with no initdb.d scripts, and 1.2s of
+      # false-healthy plus a 2.7s shutdown checkpoint in the CI failure this
+      # was diagnosed from. Only bites on a fresh volume -- a populated one
+      # skips the temporary server entirely, which is why it failed rarely.
+      test: ["CMD", "pg_isready", "-h", "127.0.0.1", "-U", "customer360", "-d", "customer360"]
       interval: 5s
       timeout: 3s
       retries: 10
diff --git a/sap-demo-java/k8s/postgres.yaml b/sap-demo-java/k8s/postgres.yaml
index ed6dddb9..ca69cf66 100644
--- a/sap-demo-java/k8s/postgres.yaml
+++ b/sap-demo-java/k8s/postgres.yaml
@@ -88,12 +88,21 @@ spec:
               cpu: "500m"
               memory: "256Mi"
           readinessProbe:
+            # Readiness means "can serve clients", so probe over TCP.
+            # Without -h, pg_isready uses the Unix socket, which the
+            # temporary post-initdb server (listen_addresses='') already
+            # answers -- marking the pod Ready while no TCP listener exists
+            # and letting dependents connect to a refused port.
             exec:
-              command: ["pg_isready", "-U", "customer360", "-d", "customer360"]
+              command: ["pg_isready", "-h", "127.0.0.1", "-U", "customer360", "-d", "customer360"]
             periodSeconds: 5
             timeoutSeconds: 3
             failureThreshold: 5
           livenessProbe:
+            # Deliberately the socket probe, unlike readiness above: liveness
+            # asks "is the process alive", and a failure restarts the pod. A
+            # TCP probe here would restart-loop a pod whose initdb outruns
+            # initialDelaySeconds + failureThreshold * periodSeconds.
             exec:
               command: ["pg_isready", "-U", "customer360", "-d", "customer360"]
             initialDelaySeconds: 15