diff --git a/DockerEntrypoint.sh b/DockerEntrypoint.sh
index 95c86869..81d9fd58 100644
--- a/DockerEntrypoint.sh
+++ b/DockerEntrypoint.sh
@@ -2,11 +2,22 @@
 
 FINISH_FILE="$GEODATA_DIR/cron-job-finished.txt"
 
-while [ ! -f "$FINISH_FILE" ]; do
-  echo "Still waiting... (looking for $FINISH_FILE)"
-  sleep 10
+MAX_WAIT=300  # 5 minutes
+ELAPSED=0
+INTERVAL=10
+
+while [ ! -f "$FINISH_FILE" ] && [ $ELAPSED -lt $MAX_WAIT ]; do
+  echo "Still waiting for geodata initialization... ($ELAPSED/$MAX_WAIT seconds)"
+  sleep $INTERVAL
+  ELAPSED=$((ELAPSED + INTERVAL))
 done
 
+if [ ! -f "$FINISH_FILE" ]; then
+  echo "ERROR: Geodata initialization timed out after $MAX_WAIT seconds"
+  echo "Container startup aborted."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 # Start fail2ban
 [ "$XUI_ENABLE_FAIL2BAN" = "true" ] && fail2ban-client -x start