diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index cf47f8aa6df..383824385eb 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@
         <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
         <executions>
           <execution>
-            <!-- Spring Boot Actuator displays build-related information 
+            <!-- Spring Boot Actuator displays build-related information
               if a META-INF/build-info.properties file is present -->
             <goals>
               <goal>build-info</goal>
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@
       <build>
         <pluginManagement>
           <plugins>
-            <!-- This plugin's configuration is used to store Eclipse m2e settings 
+            <!-- This plugin's configuration is used to store Eclipse m2e settings
               only. It has no influence on the Maven build itself. -->
             <plugin>
               <groupId>org.eclipse.m2e</groupId>
@@ -434,6 +434,30 @@
         </pluginManagement>
       </build>
     </profile>
+    <profile>
+      <id>mysql</id>
+      <properties>
+        <spring-boot.run.profiles>mysql,docker-compose</spring-boot.run.profiles>
+      </properties>
+      <dependencies>
+        <dependency>
+          <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
+          <artifactId>spring-boot-docker-compose</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+      </dependencies>
+    </profile>
+    <profile>
+      <id>postgres</id>
+      <properties>
+        <spring-boot.run.profiles>postgres,docker-compose</spring-boot.run.profiles>
+      </properties>
+      <dependencies>
+        <dependency>
+          <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
+          <artifactId>spring-boot-docker-compose</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+      </dependencies>
+    </profile>
   </profiles>
 
-</project>
\ No newline at end of file
+</project>
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 79b0fb692ae..ee9817b0ff8 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -47,7 +47,25 @@ In its default configuration, Petclinic uses an in-memory database (H2) which
 gets populated at startup with data. The h2 console is exposed at `http://localhost:8080/h2-console`,
 and it is possible to inspect the content of the database using the `jdbc:h2:mem:<uuid>` URL. The UUID is printed at startup to the console.
 
-A similar setup is provided for MySQL and PostgreSQL if a persistent database configuration is needed. Note that whenever the database type changes, the app needs to run with a different profile: `spring.profiles.active=mysql` for MySQL or `spring.profiles.active=postgres` for PostgreSQL.
+A similar setup is provided for MySQL and PostgreSQL if a persistent database configuration is needed. Two options are available:
+
+### Enable database via maven profile
+
+Pass the profile for the corresponding database as an argument:
+
+```bash
+./mvnw spring-boot:run -Pmysql
+```
+
+or
+
+```bash
+./mvnw spring-boot:run -Ppostgres
+```
+
+### Manual configuration
+
+Note that whenever the database type changes, the app needs to run with a different profile: `spring.profiles.active=mysql` for MySQL or `spring.profiles.active=postgres` for PostgreSQL.
 
 You can start MySQL or PostgreSQL locally with whatever installer works for your OS or use docker:
 
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application-docker-compose.properties b/src/main/resources/application-docker-compose.properties
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6b3f6ae190f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/resources/application-docker-compose.properties
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+spring.docker.compose.profiles.active=${database}