diff --git a/packages/core/src/service/initializer.service.ts b/packages/core/src/service/initializer.service.ts
index c5ed65cfd7..248c7157d9 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/service/initializer.service.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/service/initializer.service.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,15 @@
 import { Injectable } from '@nestjs/common';
 
+import { Logger } from '../config/logger/vendure-logger';
+import { Administrator } from '../entity/administrator/administrator.entity';
+
 import { AdministratorService } from './services/administrator.service';
 import { ChannelService } from './services/channel.service';
 import { GlobalSettingsService } from './services/global-settings.service';
 import { RoleService } from './services/role.service';
 import { ShippingMethodService } from './services/shipping-method.service';
+import { ZoneService } from './services/zone.service';
+import { TransactionalConnection } from './transaction/transactional-connection';
 
 /**
  * Only used internally to run the various service init methods in the correct
@@ -13,6 +18,8 @@ import { ShippingMethodService } from './services/shipping-method.service';
 @Injectable()
 export class InitializerService {
     constructor(
+        private connection: TransactionalConnection,
+        private zoneService: ZoneService,
         private channelService: ChannelService,
         private roleService: RoleService,
         private administratorService: AdministratorService,
@@ -21,16 +28,45 @@ export class InitializerService {
     ) {}
 
     async onModuleInit() {
+        await this.awaitDbSchemaGeneration();
         // IMPORTANT - why manually invoke these init methods rather than just relying on
         // Nest's "onModuleInit" lifecycle hook within each individual service class?
-        // The reason is that the order of invokation matters. By explicitly invoking the
+        // The reason is that the order of invocation matters. By explicitly invoking the
         // methods below, we can e.g. guarantee that the default channel exists
         // (channelService.initChannels()) before we try to create any roles (which assume that
         // there is a default Channel to work with.
+        await this.zoneService.initZones();
         await this.globalSettingsService.initGlobalSettings();
         await this.channelService.initChannels();
         await this.roleService.initRoles();
         await this.administratorService.initAdministrators();
         await this.shippingMethodService.initShippingMethods();
     }
+
+    /**
+     * On the first run of the server & worker, when dbConnectionOptions.synchronize = true, there can be
+     * a race condition where the worker starts up before the server process has had a chance to generate
+     * the DB schema. This results in a fatal error as the worker is not able to run its initialization
+     * tasks which interact with the DB.
+     *
+     * This method applies retry logic to give the server time to populate the schema before the worker
+     * continues with its bootstrap process.
+     */
+    private async awaitDbSchemaGeneration() {
+        const retries = 20;
+        const delayMs = 100;
+        for (let attempt = 0; attempt < retries; attempt++) {
+            try {
+                const result = await this.connection.getRepository(Administrator).find();
+                return;
+            } catch (e) {
+                if (attempt < retries - 1) {
+                    Logger.warn(`Awaiting DB schema creation... (attempt ${attempt})`);
+                    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, delayMs));
+                } else {
+                    Logger.error(`Timed out when awaiting the DB schema to be ready!`, undefined, e.stack);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/service/services/zone.service.ts b/packages/core/src/service/services/zone.service.ts
index 4ea753607c..4329f4be79 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/service/services/zone.service.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/service/services/zone.service.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { Injectable, OnModuleInit } from '@nestjs/common';
+import { Injectable } from '@nestjs/common';
 import {
     CreateZoneInput,
     DeletionResponse,
@@ -20,14 +20,14 @@ import { translateDeep } from '../helpers/utils/translate-entity';
 import { TransactionalConnection } from '../transaction/transactional-connection';
 
 @Injectable()
-export class ZoneService implements OnModuleInit {
+export class ZoneService {
     /**
      * We cache all Zones to avoid hitting the DB many times per request.
      */
     private zones: Zone[] = [];
     constructor(private connection: TransactionalConnection) {}
 
-    onModuleInit() {
+    initZones() {
         return this.updateZonesCache();
     }