diff --git a/modules/jdbc/build.gradle b/modules/jdbc/build.gradle
index 8b509f54fdb..8f2d8954985 100644
--- a/modules/jdbc/build.gradle
+++ b/modules/jdbc/build.gradle
@@ -11,4 +11,5 @@ dependencies {
     testCompile 'com.zaxxer:HikariCP-java6:2.3.13'
     testCompile 'com.googlecode.junit-toolbox:junit-toolbox:2.4'
     testCompile 'org.rnorth.visible-assertions:visible-assertions:2.1.2'
+    testCompile 'org.assertj:assertj-core:3.16.1'
 }
diff --git a/modules/jdbc/src/main/java/org/testcontainers/containers/JdbcDatabaseContainer.java b/modules/jdbc/src/main/java/org/testcontainers/containers/JdbcDatabaseContainer.java
index 26d699a1813..cf5ae150575 100644
--- a/modules/jdbc/src/main/java/org/testcontainers/containers/JdbcDatabaseContainer.java
+++ b/modules/jdbc/src/main/java/org/testcontainers/containers/JdbcDatabaseContainer.java
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 package org.testcontainers.containers;
 
 import com.github.dockerjava.api.command.InspectContainerResponse;
+import java.sql.Statement;
 import lombok.NonNull;
+import lombok.SneakyThrows;
 import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;
 import org.testcontainers.containers.traits.LinkableContainer;
@@ -130,25 +132,23 @@ public SELF withInitScript(String initScriptPath) {
         return self();
     }
 
+    @SneakyThrows(InterruptedException.class)
     @Override
     protected void waitUntilContainerStarted() {
         logger().info("Waiting for database connection to become available at {} using query '{}'", getJdbcUrl(), getTestQueryString());
 
         // Repeatedly try and open a connection to the DB and execute a test query
         long start = System.currentTimeMillis();
-        try {
-            while (System.currentTimeMillis() < start + (1000 * startupTimeoutSeconds)) {
-                try {
-                    if (!isRunning()) {
-                        Thread.sleep(100L);
-                        continue; // Don't attempt to connect yet
-                    }
 
-                    try (Connection connection = createConnection("")) {
-                        boolean testQuerySucceeded = connection.createStatement().execute(this.getTestQueryString());
-                        if (testQuerySucceeded) {
-                            break;
-                        }
+        while (System.currentTimeMillis() < start + (1000 * startupTimeoutSeconds)) {
+            if (!isRunning()) {
+                Thread.sleep(100L);
+            } else {
+                try (Statement statement = createConnection("").createStatement()) {
+                    boolean testQuerySucceeded = statement.execute(this.getTestQueryString());
+                    if (testQuerySucceeded) {
+                        logger().info("Container is started (JDBC URL: {})", this.getJdbcUrl());
+                        return;
                     }
                 } catch (NoDriverFoundException e) {
                     // we explicitly want this exception to fail fast without retries
@@ -159,12 +159,12 @@ protected void waitUntilContainerStarted() {
                     Thread.sleep(100L);
                 }
             }
-        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
-            Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
-            throw new ContainerLaunchException("Container startup wait was interrupted", e);
         }
 
-        logger().info("Container is started (JDBC URL: {})", JdbcDatabaseContainer.this.getJdbcUrl());
+        throw new IllegalStateException(
+            String.format("Container is started, but cannot be accessed by (JDBC URL: %s), please check container logs",
+                this.getJdbcUrl())
+        );
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/modules/jdbc/src/test/java/org/testcontainers/containers/JdbcDatabaseContainerTest.java b/modules/jdbc/src/test/java/org/testcontainers/containers/JdbcDatabaseContainerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9f0cf514558
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/jdbc/src/test/java/org/testcontainers/containers/JdbcDatabaseContainerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+package org.testcontainers.containers;
+
+import java.sql.Connection;
+import java.sql.SQLException;
+import lombok.NonNull;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatExceptionOfType;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+
+public class JdbcDatabaseContainerTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void anExceptionIsThrownIfJdbcIsNotAvailable() {
+        JdbcDatabaseContainer<?> jdbcContainer = new JdbcDatabaseContainerStub("mysql:latest")
+            .withStartupTimeoutSeconds(1);
+
+        assertThatExceptionOfType(IllegalStateException.class).isThrownBy(jdbcContainer::waitUntilContainerStarted);
+    }
+
+    static class JdbcDatabaseContainerStub extends JdbcDatabaseContainer {
+
+        public JdbcDatabaseContainerStub(@NonNull String dockerImageName) {
+            super(dockerImageName);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public String getDriverClassName() {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public String getJdbcUrl() {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public String getUsername() {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public String getPassword() {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        protected String getTestQueryString() {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public boolean isRunning() {
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public Connection createConnection(String queryString) throws SQLException, NoDriverFoundException {
+            throw new SQLException("Could not create new connection");
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        protected Logger logger() {
+            return mock(Logger.class);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void setDockerImageName(@NonNull String dockerImageName) {}
+    }
+}