diff --git a/scripts/comm-dev.sh b/scripts/comm-dev.sh
index 9197d0d80..5ff0dfa91 100755
--- a/scripts/comm-dev.sh
+++ b/scripts/comm-dev.sh
@@ -1,100 +1,100 @@
 #! /usr/bin/env bash
 
 # This is an entry for common development workflows like starting and stopping
 # expensive services
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
 COMM_ROOT="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
 
 log() {
   echo "$@" >&2
 }
 
 usage() {
   echo "Comm Development"
   echo ""
   echo "Commands:"
   echo "  services - start or stop development services"
   echo "  db - restart MariaDB server"
   echo ""
 
   exit 1
 }
 
 services_usage() {
   echo "Comm Development Services"
   echo ""
   echo "Commands:"
   echo "  restart - restart services"
   echo "  start   - start localstack and rabbitmq"
   echo "  stop    - stop localstack and rabbitmq"
   echo ""
 
   exit 1
 }
 
 services_command() {
   case "$1" in
     restart)
       "$0" services stop || true
       "$0" services start
       ;;
     start)
-      nix run "$COMM_ROOT"#rabbitmq-up
       nix run "$COMM_ROOT"#localstack-up
+      nix run "$COMM_ROOT"#rabbitmq-up
       ;;
     stop)
       log "Stopping services"
       nix run "$COMM_ROOT"#localstack-down
       pkill rabbitmq-server beam.smp
       ;;
     *)
       log "$(basename "$0"): unknown services option '$1'"
       services_usage
       exit 1
     ;;
   esac
 }
 
 db_usage() {
   echo "Comm MariaDB Server"
   echo ""
   echo "Commands:"
   echo "  restart - restart MariaDB server"
   echo ""
 
   exit 1
 }
 
 db_command() {
   case "$1" in
     restart)
       pkill mariadbd
       nix run .#mariadb-up
       ;;
     *)
       log "$(basename "$0"): unknown db option '$1'"
       db_usage
       exit 1
     ;;
   esac
 }
 
 case "$1" in
   -h|--help)
     usage
     ;;
   services)
     shift
     services_command "$@"
     ;;
   db)
     shift
     db_command "$@"
     ;;
   *)
     log "$(basename "$0"): unknown option '$1'"
     usage
     ;;
 esac
diff --git a/scripts/localstack_up.sh b/scripts/localstack_up.sh
index 2b2da6079..2fd2492af 100644
--- a/scripts/localstack_up.sh
+++ b/scripts/localstack_up.sh
@@ -1,35 +1,41 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
 # Avoid localstack attempt to write in the nix store
 XDG_DATA_HOME=''${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}
 export FILESYSTEM_ROOT=''${XDG_DATA_HOME}/localstack/filesystem
 
 # Since docker is installed outside of nix, need to ensure that it was
 # installed impurely
 if ! command -v docker > /dev/null; then
   echo "Please install docker in order to use localstack" >&2
   exit 1
 fi
 
 if ! command -v localstack > /dev/null; then
   echo "Please install localstack cli in order to use localstack" >&2
   exit 1
 fi
 
+if [[ $(docker info 2>/dev/null) =~ "Cannot connect to the Docker" ]]; then
+  echo "Localstack requires Docker to be running" >&2
+  echo "Please start Docker and try again" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 # The 'localstack status' command will poll forever if you have a newer
 # docker cli, so instead use docker ps + grep to determine running container
 if ! docker ps | grep localstack &> /dev/null; then
   echo "Starting localstack..." >&2
   localstack start \
     --detached \
     --docker \
     --no-banner > /dev/null
 else
   echo "localstack is already running, skipping localstack initialization"
 fi
 
 # Explicitly exit this script so the parent shell can determine
 # when it's safe to return control of terminal to user
 exit 0