diff --git a/config/asgi.py b/config/asgi.py
index eef501c..67f33a2 100644
--- a/config/asgi.py
+++ b/config/asgi.py
@@ -4,8 +4,14 @@
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.asgi import get_asgi_application
 
-from akarpov.common.channels import HeaderAuthMiddleware
-from config import routing
+os.environ.setdefault("DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE", "config.settings.local")
+# Initialize Django ASGI application early to ensure the AppRegistry
+# is populated before importing code that may import ORM models.
+django_asgi_app = get_asgi_application()
+
+
+from akarpov.common.channels import HeaderAuthMiddleware  # noqa
+from config import routing  # noqa
 
 if settings.DEBUG:
     os.environ.setdefault("DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE", "config.settings.local")
@@ -14,7 +20,7 @@
 
 application = ProtocolTypeRouter(
     {
-        "http": get_asgi_application(),
+        "http": django_asgi_app,
         "websocket": HeaderAuthMiddleware(URLRouter(routing.websocket_urlpatterns)),
     }
 )
diff --git a/local.yml b/local.yml
index 16be2fa..fb97d1c 100644
--- a/local.yml
+++ b/local.yml
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ services:
       - mailhog
       - elasticsearch
     volumes:
+      - /var/www/media:/app/akarpov/media
       - .:/app:z
     env_file:
       - ./.envs/.local/.django