diff --git a/bin/build_and_run_with_docker_compose b/bin/build_and_run_with_docker_compose
index b3c50428..8811df49 100755
--- a/bin/build_and_run_with_docker_compose
+++ b/bin/build_and_run_with_docker_compose
@@ -19,4 +19,14 @@ fi
 
 docker compose build
 docker compose stop
-docker compose up --wait $additional_args
+
+# i observed a case locally where the db had a stale sqlalchemy revision which
+# caused the backend to exit and when docker compose up was running with
+# --wait, it just said waiting forever (like we have seen in CI). so removing
+# the volume would work around that case, if the volumes are not cleaned up in
+# CI. also removing the wait prevents it from hanging forever in the case where
+# the backend crashes, so then we'll just wait for the timeout to happen in the
+# bin/wait_for_server_to_be_up script.
+docker volume rm spiffworkflow-backend_spiffworkflow_backend || echo 'docker volume not found'
+
+docker compose up $additional_args