diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/Dockerfile
index be15f479f..d02970593 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -109,6 +109,21 @@ RUN rm /master.zip
 # Colorize the bash shell
 RUN sed -i 's/#force_color_prompt=/force_color_prompt=/' /root/.bashrc
 
+# Make a database dump available as part of the image, for if a user doesn't
+# have one installed locally yet - this saves a bunch of time then
+ADD https://www.ietf.org/lib/dt/sprint/ietf_utf8.sql.gz /
+RUN pigz -v -d /ietf_utf8.sql.gz && \
+    sed -i -e 's/ENGINE=MyISAM/ENGINE=InnoDB/' /ietf_utf8.sql
+RUN service mariadb start && \
+    echo "This sequence will take a long time, please be patient" && \
+    mysqladmin -u root --default-character-set=utf8 create ietf_utf8 && \
+    bash -c "cd /mariadb-sys-master && mysql --user root < sys_10.sql" && \
+    bash -c "mysql --user root ietf_utf8 <<< \"GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO django@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'RkTkDPFnKpko'; FLUSH PRIVILEGES;\"" && \
+    bash -c "mysql --user=django --password=RkTkDPFnKpko -f ietf_utf8 < /ietf_utf8.sql" && \
+    service mariadb stop && \
+    rm -rf /ietf_utf8.sql /mariadb-sys-master && \
+    mv /var/lib/mysql /
+
 # Copy the startup file
 COPY docker-init.sh /docker-init.sh
 RUN chmod +x /docker-init.sh
diff --git a/docker/docker-init.sh b/docker/docker-init.sh
index 36cef7f40..a99f559a5 100644
--- a/docker/docker-init.sh
+++ b/docker/docker-init.sh
@@ -10,15 +10,23 @@ fi
 service rsyslog start
 
 if [ -z "$(ls -A $MYSQLDIR/mysql 2>/dev/null)" ]; then
-    echo "WARNING: Database seems to be empty."
-    mysql_install_db > /dev/null || exit 1
+    can=$(date -r /mysql +%s)
+    now=$(date +%s)
+    age=$((($now - $can)/86400))
+    echo "NOTE: Database empty; populating it from canned snapshot ($age days old)"
+    echo "      This will take a little while..."
+    cp -r /mysql/* $MYSQLDIR
 fi
 
 service mariadb start
 
 if ! service mariadb status; then
-    echo "ERROR: MySQL isn't running."
+    echo "ERROR: MySQL didn't start. Here are some possible causes:"
+    echo "-------------------------------------------------------------------"
     grep mysqld /var/log/syslog
+    echo "-------------------------------------------------------------------"
+    echo "Such errors are usually due to a corrupt or outdated database."
+    echo "Remove your local database and let the image install a clean copy."
     exit 1
 fi
 
@@ -27,16 +35,6 @@ if [ ! -f /root/src/ietf/settings_local.py ]; then
     cp /root/src/docker/settings_local.py /root/src/ietf/settings_local.py
 fi
 
-if [ ! -d $MYSQLDIR/ietf_utf8 ]; then
-    echo "WARNING: IETF database seems to be missing; populating it from dump."
-    mysqladmin -u root --default-character-set=utf8 create ietf_utf8
-    pushd /mariadb-sys-master || exit
-    mysql -u root < sys_10.sql
-    popd || exit
-    mysql -u root ietf_utf8 <<< "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO django@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'RkTkDPFnKpko'; FLUSH PRIVILEGES;"
-    /root/src/docker/updatedb
-fi
-
 for sub in					\
     test/id \
     test/staging \