diff --git a/templates/deployment.yaml b/templates/deployment.yaml
index 70018d9..3875357 100644
--- a/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -100,7 +100,15 @@ spec:
               max_attempts=30
               attempt=0
               while [ $attempt -lt $max_attempts ]; do
-                if /tmp/wp-cli.phar --path=/usr/src/wordpress db check 2>/dev/null; then
+                if php -r "
+                  \$link = @mysqli_connect('${WORDPRESS_DB_HOST}', '${WORDPRESS_DB_USER}', '${WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD}', '${WORDPRESS_DB_NAME}');
+                  if (\$link) {
+                    echo 'Connected';
+                    mysqli_close(\$link);
+                    exit(0);
+                  }
+                  exit(1);
+                " 2>/dev/null; then
                   echo "Database connection successful"
                   break
                 fi
@@ -109,6 +117,14 @@ spec:
                 sleep 2
               done
               
+              if [ $attempt -eq $max_attempts ]; then
+                echo "ERROR: Database connection timeout"
+                echo "DB_HOST: ${WORDPRESS_DB_HOST}"
+                echo "DB_NAME: ${WORDPRESS_DB_NAME}"
+                echo "DB_USER: ${WORDPRESS_DB_USER}"
+                exit 1
+              fi
+              
               echo "Checking if WordPress is already installed..."
               TABLES=$(/tmp/wp-cli.phar --path=/usr/src/wordpress db query "SHOW TABLES LIKE '${WORDPRESS_TABLE_PREFIX}options';" 2>/dev/null || echo "")