diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 99c9369..aa872ae 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ FROM rust:alpine AS backend-builder
 WORKDIR /app
 RUN apk add --no-cache musl-dev pkgconfig openssl-dev openssl-libs-static
 
+# Install sqlx-cli for migrations
+RUN cargo install sqlx-cli --no-default-features --features sqlite
+
 # Copy shared models
 COPY calendar-models ./calendar-models
 
@@ -81,13 +84,23 @@ RUN apk add --no-cache ca-certificates tzdata
 # Copy frontend files to temporary location
 COPY --from=builder /app/frontend/dist /app/frontend-dist
 
-# Copy backend binary (built in workspace root)
+# Copy backend binary and sqlx-cli
 COPY --from=backend-builder /app/target/release/backend /usr/local/bin/backend
+COPY --from=backend-builder /usr/local/cargo/bin/sqlx /usr/local/bin/sqlx
 
-# Create startup script to copy frontend files to shared volume
+# Copy migrations for database setup
+COPY --from=backend-builder /app/backend/migrations /migrations
+
+# Copy existing database if it exists (optional - migrations will create if needed)
+COPY --from=backend-builder /app/backend/calendar.db /calendar.db 2>/dev/null || true
+
+# Create startup script to copy frontend files, run migrations, and start backend
 RUN mkdir -p /srv/www
 RUN echo '#!/bin/sh' > /usr/local/bin/start.sh && \
+    echo 'echo "Copying frontend files..."' >> /usr/local/bin/start.sh && \
     echo 'cp -r /app/frontend-dist/* /srv/www/' >> /usr/local/bin/start.sh && \
+    echo 'echo "Running database migrations..."' >> /usr/local/bin/start.sh && \
+    echo 'sqlx migrate run --database-url "sqlite:/calendar.db" --source /migrations || echo "Migration failed but continuing..."' >> /usr/local/bin/start.sh && \
     echo 'echo "Starting backend server..."' >> /usr/local/bin/start.sh && \
     echo '/usr/local/bin/backend' >> /usr/local/bin/start.sh && \
     chmod +x /usr/local/bin/start.sh