diff --git a/Containers/postgresql/init-user-db.sh b/Containers/postgresql/init-user-db.sh
index 1f09770b..8c1f2dc9 100644
--- a/Containers/postgresql/init-user-db.sh
+++ b/Containers/postgresql/init-user-db.sh
@@ -1,9 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -ex
 
+touch "$DUMP_DIR/initialization.failed"
+
 psql -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 --username "$POSTGRES_USER" --dbname "$POSTGRES_DB" <<-EOSQL
 	CREATE USER "oc_$POSTGRES_USER" WITH PASSWORD '$POSTGRES_PASSWORD' CREATEDB;
 	ALTER DATABASE "$POSTGRES_DB" OWNER TO "oc_$POSTGRES_USER";
 EOSQL
 
+rm "$DUMP_DIR/initialization.failed"
+
 set +ex
diff --git a/Containers/postgresql/start.sh b/Containers/postgresql/start.sh
index 971bb6cc..dfc728b8 100644
--- a/Containers/postgresql/start.sh
+++ b/Containers/postgresql/start.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 # Variables
 DATADIR="/var/lib/postgresql/data"
-DUMP_DIR="/mnt/data"
+export DUMP_DIR="/mnt/data"
 DUMP_FILE="$DUMP_DIR/database-dump.sql"
 export PGPASSWORD="$POSTGRES_PASSWORD"
 
@@ -27,6 +27,16 @@ if [ -f "$DUMP_DIR/import.failed" ]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
+# Don't start if initialization failed
+if [ -f "$DUMP_DIR/initialization.failed" ]; then
+    echo "The database initialization failed. Most likely was a wrong timezone selected."
+    echo "The selected timezone is '$TZ'." 
+    echo "Please check if it is in 'TZ database name' column of the timezone list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones#List"
+    echo "For further clues on what went wrong, look at the logs above."
+    echo "You might start again from scratch by following https://github.com/nextcloud/all-in-one#how-to-properly-reset-the-instance and selecting a proper timezone."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
 # Delete the datadir once (needed for setting the correct credentials on old instances once)
 if ! [ -f "$DUMP_DIR/export.failed" ] && ! [ -f "$DUMP_DIR/initial-cleanup-done" ]; then
     set -ex