diff --git a/nixos/boxes/colony/vms/shill/containers/middleman/default.nix b/nixos/boxes/colony/vms/shill/containers/middleman/default.nix
index 08c6701..1b5d183 100644
--- a/nixos/boxes/colony/vms/shill/containers/middleman/default.nix
+++ b/nixos/boxes/colony/vms/shill/containers/middleman/default.nix
@@ -132,6 +132,10 @@ in
 
           systemd = {
             network.networks."80-container-host0" = networkdAssignment "host0" assignments.internal;
+            services = {
+              # HACK: nginx seems to get stuck not being able to DNS early...
+              nginx = lib.my.systemdAwaitPostgres pkgs.postgresql "colony-psql";
+            };
           };
 
           security = {
@@ -234,6 +238,8 @@ in
               appendHttpConfig = ''
                 ${baseHttpConfig}
 
+                resolver_timeout 5s;
+
                 # caching
                 proxy_cache_path /var/cache/nginx levels=1:2 keys_zone=CACHE:10m inactive=7d max_size=4g;