diff --git a/scripts/dev-db.ps1 b/scripts/dev-db.ps1
index 390403b..cc397f5 100644
--- a/scripts/dev-db.ps1
+++ b/scripts/dev-db.ps1
@@ -34,8 +34,13 @@ $Image = 'postgres:17'
 $ConnectionString = 'Host=localhost;Database=yeschef;Username=yeschef;Password=yeschef'
 
 function Get-ContainerState {
-    $state = docker inspect --format '{{.State.Status}}' $Name 2>$null
-    if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { return 'absent' }
+    # docker inspect exits non-zero when the container is missing; swallow
+    # that so $ErrorActionPreference='Stop' doesn't abort the script and
+    # so the caller's exit code stays clean.
+    $state = & docker inspect --format '{{.State.Status}}' $Name 2>$null
+    $code = $LASTEXITCODE
+    $global:LASTEXITCODE = 0
+    if ($code -ne 0) { return 'absent' }
     return $state
 }