diff --git a/backend/app.py b/backend/app.py
index 6063c29c..f41e4168 100644
--- a/backend/app.py
+++ b/backend/app.py
@@ -568,9 +568,13 @@ async def serve_frontend():
 async def startup_event():
     """Initialize services on startup."""
     try:
-        startup_report = run_startup_health_routine(app)
-        if startup_report.get("status") != "healthy":
-            logger.error(f"Startup readiness finished with failures: {startup_report.get('errors', [])}")
+        # Skip startup health checks in podcast-only mode to avoid unnecessary DB errors
+        if not is_podcast_only_demo_mode():
+            startup_report = run_startup_health_routine(app)
+            if startup_report.get("status") != "healthy":
+                logger.error(f"Startup readiness finished with failures: {startup_report.get('errors', [])}")
+        else:
+            logger.info("[Podcast] Skipping startup health routine (podcast-only mode)")
 
         # Start task scheduler only if NOT in podcast-only mode
         if not is_podcast_only_demo_mode():
diff --git a/backend/services/database.py b/backend/services/database.py
index f5ee6031..32299c1e 100644
--- a/backend/services/database.py
+++ b/backend/services/database.py
@@ -351,16 +351,15 @@ def init_database():
 
     try:
         # Create all tables for all models using default engine
-        OnboardingBase.metadata.create_all(bind=default_engine)
-        SEOAnalysisBase.metadata.create_all(bind=default_engine)
-        ContentPlanningBase.metadata.create_all(bind=default_engine)
-        EnhancedStrategyBase.metadata.create_all(bind=default_engine)
-        MonitoringBase.metadata.create_all(bind=default_engine)
-        APIMonitoringBase.metadata.create_all(bind=default_engine)
-        PersonaBase.metadata.create_all(bind=default_engine)
-        SubscriptionBase.metadata.create_all(bind=default_engine)
-        UserBusinessInfoBase.metadata.create_all(bind=default_engine)
-        ContentAssetBase.metadata.create_all(bind=default_engine)
+        # Use checkfirst=True (default) to avoid errors for existing tables
+        from sqlalchemy import create_engine
+        from sqlalchemy.pool import StaticPool
+        
+        # Create tables with checkfirst=True explicitly to handle existing objects
+        for base in [OnboardingBase, SEOAnalysisBase, ContentPlanningBase, 
+                     EnhancedStrategyBase, MonitoringBase, APIMonitoringBase, 
+                     PersonaBase, SubscriptionBase, UserBusinessInfoBase, ContentAssetBase]:
+            base.metadata.create_all(bind=default_engine, checkfirst=True)
         logger.info("Global database initialized successfully")
     except SQLAlchemyError as e:
         logger.error(f"Error initializing global database: {str(e)}")