diff --git a/docker/entrypoint.sh b/docker/entrypoint.sh
index 8ea47318..b79af952 100755
--- a/docker/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/docker/entrypoint.sh
@@ -163,20 +163,9 @@ if [[ "$DISPATCHARR_ENV" != "modular" ]]; then
     pids+=("$postgres_pid")
 else
     echo "🔗 Modular mode: Using external PostgreSQL at ${POSTGRES_HOST}:${POSTGRES_PORT}"
-    # Wait for external PostgreSQL to be ready using Python (no pg_isready needed)
+    # Wait for external PostgreSQL to be ready using pg_isready (checks actual protocol readiness)
     echo_with_timestamp "Waiting for external PostgreSQL to be ready..."
-    until python3 -c "
-import socket
-import sys
-try:
-    s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
-    s.settimeout(2)
-    s.connect(('${POSTGRES_HOST}', ${POSTGRES_PORT}))
-    s.close()
-    sys.exit(0)
-except Exception:
-    sys.exit(1)
-" 2>/dev/null; do
+    until $PG_BINDIR/pg_isready -h "${POSTGRES_HOST}" -p "${POSTGRES_PORT}" -q >/dev/null 2>&1; do
         echo_with_timestamp "Waiting for PostgreSQL at ${POSTGRES_HOST}:${POSTGRES_PORT}..."
         sleep 1
     done
@@ -191,12 +180,9 @@ if [[ "$DISPATCHARR_ENV" == "modular" ]]; then
     echo "🔗 Modular mode: Using external Redis at ${REDIS_HOST}:${REDIS_PORT}"
     echo_with_timestamp "Waiting for external Redis to be ready..."
     until python3 -c "
-import socket
-import sys
+import socket, sys
 try:
-    s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
-    s.settimeout(2)
-    s.connect(('${REDIS_HOST}', ${REDIS_PORT}))
+    s = socket.create_connection(('${REDIS_HOST}', ${REDIS_PORT}), timeout=2)
     s.close()
     sys.exit(0)
 except Exception: