diff --git a/doc/source/admin/examples/docker-compose.yaml b/doc/source/admin/examples/docker-compose.yaml
index 785cfdfe71..2e042f35c7 100644
--- a/doc/source/admin/examples/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/doc/source/admin/examples/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ services:
       MYSQL_DATABASE: zuul
       MYSQL_USER: zuul
       MYSQL_PASSWORD: secret
+      # Work around slow db startup when writing TZINFO data.
+      MYSQL_INITDB_SKIP_TZINFO: 1
   scheduler:
     depends_on:
       - gerritconfig