diff --git a/weave b/weave
index aaaa4e34..30f556c9 100755
--- a/weave
+++ b/weave
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@ MIN_DOCKER_VERSION=1.10.0
 DOCKERHUB_USER=${DOCKERHUB_USER:-weaveworks}
 BASE_EXEC_IMAGE=$DOCKERHUB_USER/weaveexec
 EXEC_IMAGE=$BASE_EXEC_IMAGE:$IMAGE_VERSION
-WEAVEDB_IMAGE=$DOCKERHUB_USER/weavedb
+WEAVEDB_IMAGE=$DOCKERHUB_USER/weavedb:latest
+BASE_IMAGE=$DOCKERHUB_USER/weave
+IMAGE=$BASE_IMAGE:$IMAGE_VERSION
 PROXY_HOST=${PROXY_HOST:-$(echo "${DOCKER_HOST#tcp://}" | cut -s -d: -f1)}
 PROXY_HOST=${PROXY_HOST:-127.0.0.1}
 DOCKER_CLIENT_HOST=${DOCKER_CLIENT_HOST:-$DOCKER_HOST}
@@ -217,6 +219,15 @@ case "$1" in
             fi
         fi
         ;;
+    launch)
+        # this is necessary because 'util_op run-container' doesn't do
+        # an implied pull like 'docker run' does
+        if [ -z "$IS_LOCAL" ] ; then
+            for img in $IMAGE $WEAVEDB_IMAGE ; do
+                docker inspect -f "_" $img >/dev/null 2>&1 || docker pull $img
+            done
+        fi
+        ;;
     setup)
         # call 'docker pull' outside weaveexec so we don't need a
         # docker binary inside
@@ -243,8 +254,6 @@ fi
 
 # Default restart policy for router/proxy
 RESTART_POLICY="--restart always"
-BASE_IMAGE=$DOCKERHUB_USER/weave
-IMAGE=$BASE_IMAGE:$IMAGE_VERSION
 CONTAINER_NAME=${WEAVE_CONTAINER_NAME:-weave}
 
 PLUGIN_NAME="$DOCKERHUB_USER/net-plugin"