diff --git a/crates/e2e/src/setup/services.rs b/crates/e2e/src/setup/services.rs
index 8d3224cfe6..75ff60e125 100644
--- a/crates/e2e/src/setup/services.rs
+++ b/crates/e2e/src/setup/services.rs
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ use {
     },
     reqwest::{Client, StatusCode, Url},
     sqlx::Connection,
-    std::time::Duration,
+    std::{ops::DerefMut, time::Duration},
 };
 
 pub const API_HOST: &str = "http://127.0.0.1:8080";
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ impl<'a> Services<'a> {
 
         let args = autopilot::arguments::Arguments::try_parse_from(args).unwrap();
         tokio::task::spawn(autopilot::run(args));
+        self.wait_until_autopilot_ready().await;
     }
 
     /// Start the api service in a background tasks.
@@ -300,6 +301,21 @@ impl<'a> Services<'a> {
             .expect("waiting for API timed out");
     }
 
+    async fn wait_until_autopilot_ready(&self) {
+        let is_up = || async {
+            let mut db = self.db.acquire().await.unwrap();
+            const QUERY: &str = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM auctions";
+            let count: i64 = sqlx::query_scalar(QUERY)
+                .fetch_one(db.deref_mut())
+                .await
+                .unwrap();
+            count > 0
+        };
+        wait_for_condition(TIMEOUT, is_up)
+            .await
+            .expect("waiting for autopilot timed out");
+    }
+
     pub async fn get_auction(&self) -> dto::AuctionWithId {
         let response = self
             .http