diff --git a/deploy/community/docker-compose.yml b/deploy/community/docker-compose.yml
index 7d5be1d..51409ca 100644
--- a/deploy/community/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/deploy/community/docker-compose.yml
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ services:
     depends_on:
       postgres:
         condition: service_healthy
+        required: false
     environment:
       POSTGRES_HOST: ${POSTGRES_HOST:-postgres}
       POSTGRES_PORT: ${POSTGRES_PORT:-5432}
diff --git a/scripts/deploy-community.sh b/scripts/deploy-community.sh
index 7025237..2ad1cd8 100755
--- a/scripts/deploy-community.sh
+++ b/scripts/deploy-community.sh
@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ compose_profiles=""
 if [ "$cache_backend" = "valkey" ] || [ "$cache_backend" = "redis" ]; then
     compose_profiles="--profile cache"
 fi
+postgres_scale=""
+if [ "$(env_value POSTGRES_HOST postgres)" != "postgres" ]; then
+    postgres_scale="--scale postgres=0"
+fi
 
 compose() {
     # Intentional word splitting: compose_profiles is either empty or two arguments.
@@ -33,6 +37,12 @@ compose() {
     docker compose $compose_profiles "$@"
 }
 
+compose_up() {
+    # Intentional word splitting: postgres_scale is either empty or two arguments.
+    # shellcheck disable=SC2086
+    compose up -d --remove-orphans $postgres_scale
+}
+
 wait_for_stack() {
     readiness_path="$1"
     attempt=1
@@ -119,7 +129,11 @@ rollback() {
     if [ "$cache_backend" = "valkey" ] || [ "$cache_backend" = "redis" ]; then
         compose_profiles="--profile cache"
     fi
-    compose up -d --remove-orphans
+    postgres_scale=""
+    if [ "$(env_value POSTGRES_HOST postgres)" != "postgres" ]; then
+        postgres_scale="--scale postgres=0"
+    fi
+    compose_up
     wait_for_stack health
 }
 
@@ -127,7 +141,7 @@ compose config -q
 create_backup
 compose pull
 
-if ! compose up -d --remove-orphans || ! wait_for_stack ready; then
+if ! compose_up || ! wait_for_stack ready; then
     compose ps >&2 || true
     rollback
     exit 1
diff --git a/scripts/restore-community.sh b/scripts/restore-community.sh
index c4b30e7..0eea251 100755
--- a/scripts/restore-community.sh
+++ b/scripts/restore-community.sh
@@ -28,10 +28,18 @@ compose_profiles=""
 if [ "$cache_backend" = "valkey" ] || [ "$cache_backend" = "redis" ]; then
     compose_profiles="--profile cache"
 fi
+postgres_scale=""
+if [ "$(env_value POSTGRES_HOST postgres)" != "postgres" ]; then
+    postgres_scale="--scale postgres=0"
+fi
 compose() {
     # shellcheck disable=SC2086
     docker compose $compose_profiles "$@"
 }
+compose_up() {
+    # shellcheck disable=SC2086
+    compose up -d --remove-orphans $postgres_scale
+}
 
 compose stop admin-api mcp-server ui
 
@@ -54,7 +62,7 @@ docker run --rm --volumes-from "$admin_container" \
     -v "$backup_dir:/backup:ro" alpine:3.21 sh -eu -c \
     "find '$storage_root' -mindepth 1 -delete; tar -C '$storage_root' -xzf /backup/artifacts.tar.gz"
 
-compose up -d --remove-orphans
+compose_up
 attempt=1
 while [ "$attempt" -le 45 ]; do
     if curl --fail --silent http://127.0.0.1:3000/ >/dev/null \