diff --git a/packaging/alpine/local/lavinmq/scripts/runtime-test.sh b/packaging/alpine/local/lavinmq/scripts/runtime-test.sh
index ef930b0..22d7a44 100755
--- a/packaging/alpine/local/lavinmq/scripts/runtime-test.sh
+++ b/packaging/alpine/local/lavinmq/scripts/runtime-test.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,26 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 apk add lavinmq lavinmq-doc lavinmq-openrc
 
+diagnose_lavinmq() {
+  rc-service lavinmq status || true
+  ps -ef | grep -E '[l]avinmq|start-stop' || true
+  tail -120 /var/log/lavinmq/lavinmq.log || true
+}
+
+wait_for_lavinmq() {
+  local attempt
+
+  for attempt in $(seq 1 30); do
+    if lavinmqctl --silent status >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+      return 0
+    fi
+    sleep 1
+  done
+
+  diagnose_lavinmq >&2
+  return 1
+}
+
 test -x /usr/bin/lavinmq
 test -x /usr/bin/lavinmqctl
 test -x /usr/bin/lavinmqperf
@@ -21,6 +41,7 @@ rc-update add lavinmq default || true
 test -L /etc/runlevels/default/lavinmq
 rc-service lavinmq start
 rc-service lavinmq status
+wait_for_lavinmq
 test -f /var/lib/lavinmq/.lock
 rc-service lavinmq stop
 
@@ -28,5 +49,6 @@ chown root:root /var/lib/lavinmq/.lock
 chmod 0600 /var/lib/lavinmq/.lock
 rc-service lavinmq start
 rc-service lavinmq status
+wait_for_lavinmq
 test "$(stat -c '%U:%G %a' /var/lib/lavinmq/.lock)" = "lavinmq:lavinmq 640"
 rc-service lavinmq stop