diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c2be45eb0..2a4856359 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ compile-%:
 .PHONY: start
 # HELP: start complete development environment with a fresh test database
 start: start-postgres start-maildev start-memcached start-minio start-backend
-	docker compose run backend make start
+	docker compose exec backend make start
 .PHONY: start-%
 # HELP(start-$SERVICE): start a given service
 start-%: