diff --git a/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.API/Extensions/WebHostExtensions.cs b/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.API/Extensions/WebHostExtensions.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b7a982b2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.API/Extensions/WebHostExtensions.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration;
+using System;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
+using Polly;
+using System.Data.SqlClient;
+using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting;
+
+namespace Catalog.API.Extensions
+{
+    public static class WebHostExtensions
+    {
+        public static bool IsInKubernetes(this IWebHost host)
+        {
+            var cfg = host.Services.GetService<IConfiguration>();
+            var orchestratorType = cfg.GetValue<string>("OrchestratorType");
+            return orchestratorType?.ToUpper() == "K8S";
+        }
+
+        public static IWebHost MigrateDbContext<TContext>(this IWebHost host, Action<TContext, IServiceProvider> seeder) where TContext : DbContext
+        {
+            var underK8s = host.IsInKubernetes();
+
+            using (var scope = host.Services.CreateScope())
+            {
+                var services = scope.ServiceProvider;
+
+                var logger = services.GetRequiredService<ILogger<TContext>>();
+
+                var context = services.GetService<TContext>();
+
+                try
+                {
+                    logger.LogInformation("Migrating database associated with context {DbContextName}", typeof(TContext).Name);
+
+                    if (underK8s)
+                    {
+                        InvokeSeeder(seeder, context, services);
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        var retry = Policy.Handle<SqlException>()
+                             .WaitAndRetry(new TimeSpan[]
+                             {
+                             TimeSpan.FromSeconds(3),
+                             TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5),
+                             TimeSpan.FromSeconds(8),
+                             });
+
+                        //if the sql server container is not created on run docker compose this
+                        //migration can't fail for network related exception. The retry options for DbContext only 
+                        //apply to transient exceptions
+                        // Note that this is NOT applied when running some orchestrators (let the orchestrator to recreate the failing service)
+                        retry.Execute(() => InvokeSeeder(seeder, context, services));
+                    }
+
+                    logger.LogInformation("Migrated database associated with context {DbContextName}", typeof(TContext).Name);
+                }
+                catch (Exception ex)
+                {
+                    logger.LogError(ex, "An error occurred while migrating the database used on context {DbContextName}", typeof(TContext).Name);
+                    if (underK8s)
+                    {
+                        throw;          // Rethrow under k8s because we rely on k8s to re-run the pod
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
+            return host;
+        }
+
+        private static void InvokeSeeder<TContext>(Action<TContext, IServiceProvider> seeder, TContext context, IServiceProvider services)
+            where TContext : DbContext
+        {
+            context.Database.Migrate();
+            seeder(context, services);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.API/Program.cs b/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.API/Program.cs
index 39f3643d8..d24f976f9 100644
--- a/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.API/Program.cs
+++ b/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.API/Program.cs
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@ namespace Microsoft.eShopOnContainers.Services.Catalog.API
         private static IHostBuilder CreateHostBuilder(IConfiguration configuration, string[] args) =>
             Host.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
                 .ConfigureServices(services => services.AddAutofac())
-                .UseServiceProviderFactory(new AutofacServiceProviderFactory())
                 .ConfigureWebHostDefaults(builder =>
                 {
                     builder.CaptureStartupErrors(false)
diff --git a/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.API/Startup.cs b/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.API/Startup.cs
index 9dcf81f01..64441f9ea 100644
--- a/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.API/Startup.cs
+++ b/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.API/Startup.cs
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.eShopOnContainers.Services.Catalog.API
 
         public IConfiguration Configuration { get; }
 
-        public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
+        public IServiceProvider ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
         {
             services.AddAppInsight(Configuration)
                 .AddGrpc().Services
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.eShopOnContainers.Services.Catalog.API
             var container = new ContainerBuilder();
             container.Populate(services);
 
+            return new AutofacServiceProvider(container.Build());
         }
 
         public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, IWebHostEnvironment env, ILoggerFactory loggerFactory)
diff --git a/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.FunctionalTests/Catalog.FunctionalTests.csproj b/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.FunctionalTests/Catalog.FunctionalTests.csproj
index a679d5d35..9db9a3c37 100644
--- a/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.FunctionalTests/Catalog.FunctionalTests.csproj
+++ b/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.FunctionalTests/Catalog.FunctionalTests.csproj
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Testing" Version="2.2.0" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Testing" Version="$(Microsoft_AspNetCore_Mvc_Testing)" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk" Version="$(Microsoft_NET_Test_Sdk)" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.TestHost" Version="$(Microsoft_AspNetCore_TestHost)" />
     <PackageReference Include="xunit" Version="$(xunit)" />
diff --git a/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.FunctionalTests/CatalogScenarioBase.cs b/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.FunctionalTests/CatalogScenarioBase.cs
index 46bdb07d1..6a8cbd72f 100644
--- a/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.FunctionalTests/CatalogScenarioBase.cs
+++ b/src/Services/Catalog/Catalog.FunctionalTests/CatalogScenarioBase.cs
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+using Autofac.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
+using Catalog.API.Extensions;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.TestHost;
 using Microsoft.eShopOnContainers.BuildingBlocks.IntegrationEventLogEF;
@@ -5,6 +7,7 @@ using Microsoft.eShopOnContainers.Services.Catalog.API;
 using Microsoft.eShopOnContainers.Services.Catalog.API.Infrastructure;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Options;
 using System.IO;
@@ -25,14 +28,16 @@ namespace Catalog.FunctionalTests
                 {
                     cb.AddJsonFile("appsettings.json", optional: false)
                     .AddEnvironmentVariables();
-                }).UseStartup<Startup>();
+                })
+                .UseStartup<Startup>();
+
 
             var testServer = new TestServer(hostBuilder);
 
             testServer.Host
                 .MigrateDbContext<CatalogContext>((context, services) =>
                 {
-                    var env = services.GetService<IHostingEnvironment>();
+                    var env = services.GetService<IWebHostEnvironment>();
                     var settings = services.GetService<IOptions<CatalogSettings>>();
                     var logger = services.GetService<ILogger<CatalogContextSeed>>();