diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index f3279d3..e4c90ef 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ RUN set -ex; \
         bind-tools \
         nano \
         vim \
-        envsubst; \
+        envsubst \
+        jq; \
     chmod -R 777 /tmp
 
 COPY --chmod=775 *.sh /
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 49c3e24..c4acba7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ You should set `BIND_ADDRESS` to the IP on which server with ExApps can accept r
 
 `TIMEOUT_SERVER`: timeout for ExApp to start responding to NC request, default: **1800s**
 
+`NC_AUTOSTART_CONTAINERS`: if set, automatically start managed app containers (useful for Podman users)
+
 `NC_HAPROXY_PASSWORD_FILE`: Specifies path to a file containing the password for HAProxy. 
 
 > [!NOTE]
diff --git a/start.sh b/start.sh
index 9f91d86..b546007 100644
--- a/start.sh
+++ b/start.sh
@@ -52,12 +52,21 @@ fi
 
 echo "HaProxy config:"
 
+start_app_containers() {
+  if ! [ -z ${NC_AUTOSTART_CONTAINERS+x} ]; then
+    echo "Autostarting existing app containers per NC_AUTOSTART_CONTAINERS."
+    curl --silent --globoff -XGET --unix-socket /run/docker.sock 'http://localhost/containers/json?filters={"status":["exited"]}' | jq -r '.[] | select(.Names[0] | startswith("/nc_app_")) | .Id' | xargs -I% curl --silent --globoff -XPOST --fail-with-body --unix-socket /run/docker.sock 'http://localhost/containers/%/start'
+  fi
+}
+
 if [ -f "/certs/cert.pem" ]; then
   cat /haproxy.cfg
   cat /haproxy_ex_apps.cfg
+  start_app_containers
   haproxy -f /haproxy.cfg -f /haproxy_ex_apps.cfg -db
 else
   cat /haproxy.cfg
+  start_app_containers
   haproxy -f /haproxy.cfg -db
 fi