diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7f188cf..98b5f2e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Note: Breaking changes between versions are indicated by "💥".
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+- [Bugfix] Fix running forum locally when both elasticsearch and mongodb are not activated (#266)
 - [Bugfix] Fix MongoDb url in forum when running separate service (#267)
 - 💥[Improvement] Better `dev` commands, with dedicated development docker image. One of the consequences is that the `dev watchthemes` command is replaced by `dev run lms watchthemes`.
 - [Improvement] `images` commands now accept multiple `image` arguments
diff --git a/tests/test_utils.py b/tests/test_utils.py
index 09fe807..2716a96 100644
--- a/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import unittest
 
 from tutor import utils
-from tutor import serialize
 
 
 class UtilsTests(unittest.TestCase):
@@ -20,3 +19,6 @@ class UtilsTests(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_reverse_host(self):
         self.assertEqual("com.google.www", utils.reverse_host("www.google.com"))
+
+    def test_list_if(self):
+        self.assertEqual('["cms"]', utils.list_if([("lms", False), ("cms", True)]))
diff --git a/tutor/env.py b/tutor/env.py
index 75f8875..823afda 100644
--- a/tutor/env.py
+++ b/tutor/env.py
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ class Renderer:
             )
             environment.filters["random_string"] = utils.random_string
             environment.filters["common_domain"] = utils.common_domain
+            environment.filters["list_if"] = utils.list_if
             environment.filters["reverse_host"] = utils.reverse_host
             environment.filters["walk_templates"] = walk_templates
             environment.globals["TUTOR_VERSION"] = __version__
diff --git a/tutor/templates/local/docker-compose.yml b/tutor/templates/local/docker-compose.yml
index f35d4dd..d155534 100644
--- a/tutor/templates/local/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/tutor/templates/local/docker-compose.yml
@@ -69,9 +69,7 @@ services:
       - ../../data/openedx-media:/var/www/openedx-media:ro
       {% if ACTIVATE_HTTPS %}- ../../data/letsencrypt:/etc/letsencrypt/:ro{% endif %}
       {{ patch("local-docker-compose-nginx-volumes")|indent(6) }}
-    depends_on:
-      {% if ACTIVATE_LMS %}- lms{% endif %}
-      {% if ACTIVATE_CMS %}- cms {% endif %}
+    depends_on: {{ [("lms", ACTIVATE_LMS), ("cms", ACTIVATE_CMS)]|list_if }}
 
   {% if ACTIVATE_RABBITMQ %}
   rabbitmq:
@@ -98,9 +96,7 @@ services:
       MONGODB_HOST: "{{ MONGODB_HOST }}"
       MONGODB_PORT: "{{ MONGODB_PORT }}"
     restart: unless-stopped
-    depends_on:
-      {% if ACTIVATE_ELASTICSEARCH %}- elasticsearch{% endif %}
-      {% if ACTIVATE_MONGODB %}- mongodb{% endif %}
+    depends_on: {{ [("elasticsearch", ACTIVATE_ELASTICSEARCH), ("mongodb", ACTIVATE_MONGODB)]|list_if }}
   {% endif %}
 
   ############# LMS and CMS
diff --git a/tutor/utils.py b/tutor/utils.py
index cb76f37..2e165ef 100644
--- a/tutor/utils.py
+++ b/tutor/utils.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import json
 import os
 import random
 import shutil
@@ -24,6 +25,8 @@ def random_string(length):
         [random.choice(string.ascii_letters + string.digits) for _ in range(length)]
     )
 
+def list_if(services):
+    return json.dumps([service[0] for service in services if service[1]])
 
 def common_domain(d1, d2):
     """