diff --git a/tests/ghost/compose.ccci.yml b/tests/ghost/compose.ccci.yml
index 2ca333b..9995168 100644
--- a/tests/ghost/compose.ccci.yml
+++ b/tests/ghost/compose.ccci.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,20 @@
 # check still marks healthy immediately, so NO test/assertion is weakened and fast hosts are
 # unaffected. It is idempotent on the head (head already ships 15m). Merges deeply onto the base
 # healthcheck (test/interval/timeout/retries preserved; only start_period overridden).
+#
+# The `db` (mysql:8.0) healthcheck gets the same grace: on the loaded cc-ci host a FRESH mysql data
+# dir init (InnoDB + system tables + root-password apply) takes ~6-10 min, far exceeding the recipe's
+# 1m db start_period (+10×30s ≈ 6 min) — swarm kills mysql MID-INIT (exit 137 "unhealthy container"),
+# leaving a half-written data dir whose InnoDB redo logs are corrupt ("Cannot create redo log files
+# because data files are corrupt") → every restart fails → permanent deadlock. Widening the db
+# start_period to 15m lets the slow first-boot init finish before the healthcheck can fail it. This
+# bites BOTH base and head (the published recipe ships db start_period 1m everywhere), so the overlay
+# applies on both (persists untracked across the head checkout) — a recipe-PR candidate too.
+# Grace-only; masks no defect; weakens no test.
 services:
   app:
     healthcheck:
       start_period: 15m
+  db:
+    healthcheck:
+      start_period: 15m