diff --git a/machines/gerd/services/wger/default.nix b/machines/gerd/services/wger/default.nix
index cf3e762..0469306 100644
--- a/machines/gerd/services/wger/default.nix
+++ b/machines/gerd/services/wger/default.nix
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ let
 
             WGER_SETTINGS[k] = v
   '';
+  settingsFileDir = pkgs.writeTextDir "settings.py" (builtins.readFile settingsFile);
 in {
 
   # main service
@@ -103,13 +104,20 @@ in {
     wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
     after = [ "networking.target" ];
 
-    script = ''
+    script = let
+      pythonEnv = pkgs.python3.withPackages (ps: with ps; [
+        gunicorn
+        (pkgs.python3Packages.callPackage ./wgerpkg/default.nix {})
+      ]);
+    in ''
       # initial setup
       ${wgerpkgs}/bin/wger migrate-db -s ${settingsFile} || true
-      ${wgerpkgs}/bin/wger load-fixtures -s ${settingsFile} || true
+      # TODO: fix at some point
+      # ${wgerpkgs}/bin/wger load-fixtures -s ${settingsFile} || true
 
       # run server
-      ${wgerpkgs}/bin/wger start -s ${settingsFile}
+      # ${wgerpkgs}/bin/wger start -s ${settingsFile}
+      PYTHONPATH="${pythonEnv}/${pkgs.python3.sitePackages}:${settingsFileDir}" ${pythonEnv}/bin/gunicorn wger.wsgi:application --reload --bind 127.0.0.1:${builtins.toString port}
     '';
 
     serviceConfig = {
diff --git a/machines/gerd/services/wger/wgerpkg/default.nix b/machines/gerd/services/wger/wgerpkg/default.nix
index bb2438d..1f80708 100644
--- a/machines/gerd/services/wger/wgerpkg/default.nix
+++ b/machines/gerd/services/wger/wgerpkg/default.nix
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 let
   frontend = callPackage ./frontend.nix {};
-in python3.pkgs.buildPythonApplication rec {
+in python3.pkgs.buildPythonPackage rec {
   pname = "wger";
   version = "unstable-2024-12-01";
   pyproject = true;
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ in python3.pkgs.buildPythonApplication rec {
     ./patches/pyproject.patch
     ./patches/tasks.patch
     ./patches/manage.patch
+    ./patches/exercises-no-gifs.patch
   ];
 
   # dependencies = with python3.pkgs; [
diff --git a/machines/gerd/services/wger/wgerpkg/patches/exercises-no-gifs.patch b/machines/gerd/services/wger/wgerpkg/patches/exercises-no-gifs.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b1639d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/machines/gerd/services/wger/wgerpkg/patches/exercises-no-gifs.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+diff --git a/wger/exercises/api/views.py b/wger/exercises/api/views.py
+index d6387bb2b..86bca386b 100644
+--- a/wger/exercises/api/views.py
++++ b/wger/exercises/api/views.py
+@@ -374,12 +374,13 @@ def search(request):
+             image = image_obj.image.url
+             t = get_thumbnailer(image_obj.image)
+             thumbnail = None
+-            try:
+-                thumbnail = t.get_thumbnail(aliases.get('micro_cropped')).url
+-            except InvalidImageFormatError as e:
+-                logger.info(f'InvalidImageFormatError while processing a thumbnail: {e}')
+-            except OSError as e:
+-                logger.info(f'OSError while processing a thumbnail: {e}')
++            if not image.lower().endswith(".gif"):
++                try:
++                    thumbnail = t.get_thumbnail(aliases.get('micro_cropped')).url
++                except InvalidImageFormatError as e:
++                    logger.info(f'InvalidImageFormatError while processing a thumbnail: {e}')
++                except OSError as e:
++                    logger.info(f'OSError while processing a thumbnail: {e}')
+ 
+         result_json = {
+             'value': translation.name,
+@@ -393,6 +394,7 @@ def search(request):
+             },
+         }
+         results.append(result_json)
++
+     response['suggestions'] = results
+     return Response(response)
+