diff --git a/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py b/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py
index 10bbc84ba5..b72dd5c8c0 100644
--- a/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py
+++ b/evennia/server/evennia_launcher.py
@@ -1310,9 +1310,9 @@ def main():
         check_db = False
         if option in ('runserver', 'testserver'):
             print(WARNING_RUNSERVER)
-        if option == "shell":
-            # to use the shell we need to initialize it first,
-            # and this only works if the database is set up
+        if option in ("shell", "check"):
+            # some django commands requires the database to exist,
+            # or evennia._init to have run before they work right.
             check_db = True
         if option == "test":
             global TEST_MODE