diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 2d7b2b54b85..e4ea2db0591 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -61,9 +61,22 @@ services:
     volumes:
       - ./docker/nginx/nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf:ro
       - ./docker/nginx/templates:/etc/nginx/templates:ro
-    depends_on:
-      superset-node:
-        condition: service_healthy
+    # Wait for the webpack dev server's manifest.json to be served before
+    # starting nginx. This prevents 404s on static assets at startup. The
+    # probe targets host.docker.internal so it works regardless of whether
+    # the dev server runs in the superset-node container
+    # (BUILD_SUPERSET_FRONTEND_IN_DOCKER=true, the default) or directly on
+    # the host (BUILD_SUPERSET_FRONTEND_IN_DOCKER=false).
+    command:
+      - /bin/bash
+      - -c
+      - |
+        echo "Waiting for webpack dev server at host.docker.internal:9000/static/assets/manifest.json..."
+        until curl -sf -o /dev/null http://host.docker.internal:9000/static/assets/manifest.json; do
+          sleep 2
+        done
+        echo "Webpack dev server is ready; starting nginx."
+        exec nginx -g 'daemon off;'
 
   redis:
     image: redis:7
@@ -189,14 +202,6 @@ services:
       - path: docker/.env-local # optional override
         required: false
     volumes: *superset-volumes
-    healthcheck:
-      # Check if webpack dev server is responding on port 9000
-      # This prevents nginx from proxying before the frontend is ready
-      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "node -e \"const http = require('http'); http.get('http://localhost:9000', (r) => process.exit(r.statusCode === 200 ? 0 : 1)).on('error', () => process.exit(1))\""]
-      interval: 10s
-      timeout: 5s
-      retries: 30
-      start_period: 60s
 
   superset-worker:
     build: