diff --git a/src/cloudron.js b/src/cloudron.js
index 0e835a69e..541a9acd4 100644
--- a/src/cloudron.js
+++ b/src/cloudron.js
@@ -152,16 +152,8 @@ async function runStartupTasks() {
 
     // we used to run tasks in parallel but simultaneous nginx reloads was causing issues
     for (let i = 0; i < tasks.length; i++) {
-        for (let attempt = 0; attempt < 3; attempt++) {
-            const [error] = await safe(tasks[i]());
-            if (!error) break; // task succeeded
-            debug(`Startup task at index ${i} failed (attempt ${attempt}): ${error.message}`);
-            // for some reason, mysql arbitrary restarts making startup tasks fail. this makes the box update stuck
-            const retry = error.reason === BoxError.DATABASE_ERROR && error.code === 'PROTOCOL_CONNECTION_LOST';
-            if (!retry) break;
-            debug(`Will retry task at index ${i}`);
-            await delay(3000);
-        }
+        const [error] = await safe(tasks[i]());
+        if (error) debug(`Startup task at index ${i} failed: ${error.message}`);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/platform.js b/src/platform.js
index ea45c2594..f9f371740 100644
--- a/src/platform.js
+++ b/src/platform.js
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@ exports = module.exports = {
 
 const apps = require('./apps.js'),
     assert = require('assert'),
+    BoxError = require('./boxerror.js'),
     debug = require('debug')('box:platform'),
+    delay = require('delay'),
     fs = require('fs'),
     infra = require('./infra_version.js'),
     locker = require('./locker.js'),
@@ -37,9 +39,7 @@ async function start(options) {
     // short-circuit for the restart case
     if (_.isEqual(infra, existingInfra)) {
         debug('platform is uptodate at version %s', infra.version);
-
-        onPlatformReady(false /* !infraChanged */);
-
+        await onPlatformReady(false /* !infraChanged */);
         return;
     }
 
@@ -48,15 +48,27 @@ async function start(options) {
     const error = locker.lock(locker.OP_PLATFORM_START);
     if (error) throw error;
 
-    if (existingInfra.version !== infra.version) await removeAllContainers();
-    if (existingInfra.version === 'none') await volumes.mountAll(); // when restoring, mount all volumes
-    await markApps(existingInfra, options); // mark app state before we start addons. this gives the db import logic a chance to mark an app as errored
-    await services.startServices(existingInfra);
-    await fs.promises.writeFile(paths.INFRA_VERSION_FILE, JSON.stringify(infra, null, 4));
+    for (let attempt = 0; attempt < 5; attempt++) {
+        try {
+            if (existingInfra.version !== infra.version) await removeAllContainers();
+            if (existingInfra.version === 'none') await volumes.mountAll(); // when restoring, mount all volumes
+            await markApps(existingInfra, options); // mark app state before we start addons. this gives the db import logic a chance to mark an app as errored
+            await services.startServices(existingInfra);
+            await fs.promises.writeFile(paths.INFRA_VERSION_FILE, JSON.stringify(infra, null, 4));
+            break;
+        } catch (error) {
+            // for some reason, mysql arbitrary restarts making startup tasks fail. this makes the box update stuck
+            // LOST is when existing connection breaks. REFUSED is when new connection cannot connect at all
+            const retry = error.reason === BoxError.DATABASE_ERROR && (error.code === 'PROTOCOL_CONNECTION_LOST' || error.code === 'ECONNREFUSED');
+            debug(`Failed to start services. retry=${retry} (attempt ${attempt}): ${error.message}`);
+            if (!retry) break;
+            await delay(10000);
+        }
+    }
 
     locker.unlock(locker.OP_PLATFORM_START);
 
-    onPlatformReady(true /* infraChanged */); // background
+    await onPlatformReady(true /* infraChanged */);
 }
 
 async function stopAllTasks() {
@@ -67,7 +79,7 @@ async function onPlatformReady(infraChanged) {
     debug(`onPlatformReady: platform is ready. infra changed: ${infraChanged}`);
     exports._isReady = true;
 
-    if (infraChanged) await pruneInfraImages();
+    if (infraChanged) await safe(pruneInfraImages(), { debug }); // ignore error
 
     await apps.schedulePendingTasks();
 }