diff --git a/charts/keep/templates/keep-backend.yaml b/charts/keep/templates/keep-backend.yaml
index 6d79e08..641e962 100644
--- a/charts/keep/templates/keep-backend.yaml
+++ b/charts/keep/templates/keep-backend.yaml
@@ -68,9 +68,12 @@ spec:
           resources:
             {{- toYaml .Values.backend.resources | nindent 12 }}
       initContainers:
+        {{- if .Values.backend.waitForDatabase }}
         - name: wait-for-database
           image: busybox
           command: ['sh', '-c', 'until nc -z keep-database 3306; do sleep 1; done;']
+        {{- end }}
+
       {{- with .Values.backend.nodeSelector }}
       nodeSelector:
         {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
diff --git a/charts/keep/values.yaml b/charts/keep/values.yaml
index fa9db47..9450627 100644
--- a/charts/keep/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/keep/values.yaml
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ fullnameOverride: ""
 
 backend:
   enabled: true
+  # if true, wait for the database to be ready before starting the API
+  # if you use external database, you can set this to false
+  waitForDatabase: true
   env:
     - name: SECRET_MANAGER_TYPE
       value: k8s