diff --git a/docker_test.go b/docker_test.go
index bf09265308..39b69044f6 100644
--- a/docker_test.go
+++ b/docker_test.go
@@ -793,6 +793,52 @@ func TestContainerCreationWaitsForLogAndPortContextTimeout(t *testing.T) {
 
 }
 
+func TestContainerCreationWaitingForHostPort(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	req := ContainerRequest{
+		Image:        "nginx:1.17.6",
+		ExposedPorts: []string{"80/tcp"},
+		WaitingFor:   wait.ForListeningPort("80/tcp"),
+	}
+	nginx, err := GenericContainer(ctx, GenericContainerRequest{
+		ContainerRequest: req,
+		Started:          true,
+	})
+	defer func() {
+		err := nginx.Terminate(ctx)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		t.Log("terminated nginx container")
+	}()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestContainerCreationWaitingForHostPortWithoutBashThrowsAnError(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	req := ContainerRequest{
+		Image:        "nginx:1.17.6-alpine",
+		ExposedPorts: []string{"80/tcp"},
+		WaitingFor:   wait.ForListeningPort("80/tcp"),
+	}
+	nginx, err := GenericContainer(ctx, GenericContainerRequest{
+		ContainerRequest: req,
+		Started:          true,
+	})
+	defer func() {
+		err := nginx.Terminate(ctx)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		t.Log("terminated nginx container")
+	}()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestContainerCreationWaitsForLogAndPort(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx := context.Background()
 	req := ContainerRequest{
diff --git a/wait/host_port.go b/wait/host_port.go
index b639b8e84e..dd67503366 100644
--- a/wait/host_port.go
+++ b/wait/host_port.go
@@ -90,13 +90,15 @@ func (hp *HostPortStrategy) WaitUntilReady(ctx context.Context, target StrategyT
 	//internal check
 	command := buildInternalCheckCommand(hp.Port.Int())
 	for {
-		exitCode, err := target.Exec(ctx, []string{"/bin/bash", "-c", command})
+		exitCode, err := target.Exec(ctx, []string{"/bin/sh", "-c", command})
 		if err != nil {
 			return errors.Wrapf(err, "host port waiting failed")
 		}
 
 		if exitCode == 0 {
 			break
+		} else if exitCode == 126 {
+			return errors.New("/bin/sh command not executable")
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -105,9 +107,9 @@ func (hp *HostPortStrategy) WaitUntilReady(ctx context.Context, target StrategyT
 
 func buildInternalCheckCommand(internalPort int) string {
 	command := `(
-					cat /proc/net/tcp{,6} | awk '{print $2}' | grep -i :%x ||
+					cat /proc/net/tcp* | awk '{print $2}' | grep -i :%04x ||
 					nc -vz -w 1 localhost %d ||
-					/bin/bash -c '</dev/tcp/localhost/%d'
+					/bin/sh -c '</dev/tcp/localhost/%d'
 				)
 				`
 	return "true && " + fmt.Sprintf(command, internalPort, internalPort, internalPort)