diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 92ce2bb758..a70aa29637 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -23,6 +23,14 @@ cd ..
 git clone https://github.com/zed-industries/zed.dev
 ```
 
+Make sure your local database is created, migrated, and seeded with initial data. Install [Postgres](https://postgresapp.com), then from the `zed` repository root, run:
+
+```
+script/sqlx database create
+script/sqlx migrate run
+script/seed-db
+```
+
 Run `zed.dev` and the collaboration server.
 
 ```
diff --git a/crates/server/src/bin/seed.rs b/crates/server/src/bin/seed.rs
index 4d3fb978db..d5400d0008 100644
--- a/crates/server/src/bin/seed.rs
+++ b/crates/server/src/bin/seed.rs
@@ -6,18 +6,9 @@ use time::{Duration, OffsetDateTime};
 #[allow(unused)]
 #[path = "../db.rs"]
 mod db;
-#[path = "../env.rs"]
-mod env;
 
 #[async_std::main]
 async fn main() {
-    if let Err(error) = env::load_dotenv() {
-        log::error!(
-            "error loading .env.toml (this is expected in production): {}",
-            error
-        );
-    }
-
     let mut rng = StdRng::from_entropy();
     let database_url = std::env::var("DATABASE_URL").expect("missing DATABASE_URL env var");
     let db = Db::new(&database_url, 5)
diff --git a/script/seed-db b/script/seed-db
index f42a33ba00..437d1bcac8 100755
--- a/script/seed-db
+++ b/script/seed-db
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-
 set -e
+
+cd crates/server
+
+# Export contents of .env.toml
+eval "$(cargo run --bin dotenv)"
+
 cargo run --package=zed-server --features seed-support --bin seed