diff --git a/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py b/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py
index 9fed573caf..dcfbbb8a7c 100644
--- a/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py
+++ b/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py
@@ -2259,7 +2259,7 @@ def main():
         if option in ("makemessages", "compilemessages"):
             # some commands don't require the presence of a game directory to work
             need_gamedir = False
-        if option in ("shell", "check", "makemigrations", "createsuperuser"):
+        if option in ("shell", "check", "makemigrations", "createsuperuser", "shell_plus"):
             # some django commands requires the database to exist,
             # or evennia._init to have run before they work right.
             check_db = True
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 10485f708b..e09b5bf7e9 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ pytz
 djangorestframework >= 3.10.3, < 3.12
 django-filter >= 2.2.0, < 2.3
 django-sekizai
+django-extensions >= 3.1.0
 inflect
 autobahn >= 17.9.3
 lunr == 0.5.6