diff --git a/rad/settings.py b/rad/settings.py
index bf40e409..3342ea15 100644
--- a/rad/settings.py
+++ b/rad/settings.py
@@ -381,7 +381,13 @@ CIMAR_USERNAME = ""
 CIMAR_PASSWORD = ""
 
 # Celery settings
-REDIS_HOST = os.environ.get("REDIS_HOST", "redis")
+redis_url_str = os.environ.get("REDIS_URL", "")
+if redis_url_str.startswith("redis://"):
+    # extract host from redis://host:port/db
+    REDIS_HOST = redis_url_str[8:].split("/")[0].split(":")[0]
+else:
+    REDIS_HOST = os.environ.get("REDIS_HOST", "127.0.0.1")
+
 CELERY_BROKER_URL = f"redis://{REDIS_HOST}:6379"
 CELERY_RESULT_BACKEND = f"redis://{REDIS_HOST}:6379"