diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b39c2e6..041bd2a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ This repository wraps the official
 with a convenience function to create an spanner instance on startup.
 
 ## Usage
+
 Set the `SPANNER_DATABASE_ID`, `SPANNER_INSTANCE_ID` and `SPANNER_PROJECT_ID` environment variables when running the image.
 You can omit the database id if you just need an instance.
 ```sh
@@ -15,5 +16,14 @@ docker run --env SPANNER_DATABASE_ID=db \
   roryq/spanner-emulator:latest
 ```
 
+Alternatively you can set the `DATABASES` environment variable that accepts a comma-separate list of spanner database resource strings.
+Again, the database can be omitted if you only need the instance.
+
+```sh
+docker run --env DATABASES=projects/proj/instances/inst/dabatases/db,... \
+  -p 9010:9010 -p 9020:9020 \
+  roryq/spanner-emulator:latest
+```
+
 ---
 Thanks to [jacksonjesse/pubsub-emulator](https://github.com/jacksonjesse/pubsub-emulator) for the idea.
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 4222fbd..5554e90 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -5,58 +5,83 @@ import (
 	"log"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
 
 	database "cloud.google.com/go/spanner/admin/database/apiv1"
 	instance "cloud.google.com/go/spanner/admin/instance/apiv1"
 	"github.com/googleapis/gax-go/v2"
+	"golang.org/x/sync/errgroup"
 	"google.golang.org/api/option"
 	databasepb "google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/spanner/admin/database/v1"
 	instancepb "google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/spanner/admin/instance/v1"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/credentials/insecure"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/status"
 )
 
 func main() {
 	ctx := context.Background()
-	go func() {
-		if err := ensureDatabase(ctx); err != nil {
-			panic(err)
-		}
-	}()
+	inst := os.Getenv("SPANNER_INSTANCE_ID")
+	proj := os.Getenv("SPANNER_PROJECT_ID")
+	db := os.Getenv("SPANNER_DATABASE_ID")
+	dbs := os.Getenv("DATABASES")
+	databases := resolveDBs(proj, inst, db, dbs)
+	go ensureDatabases(ctx, databases)
 	cmd := exec.Command("./gateway_main", "--hostname", "0.0.0.0")
 	cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
 	cmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
 	cmd.Run()
 }
 
-func ensureDatabase(ctx context.Context) error {
-	inst := os.Getenv("SPANNER_INSTANCE_ID")
-	proj := os.Getenv("SPANNER_PROJECT_ID")
-	db := os.Getenv("SPANNER_DATABASE_ID")
+func ensureDatabases(ctx context.Context, databases []dbase) error {
+	if len(databases) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
 
-	if inst != "" && proj != "" {
-		ic, err := instance.NewInstanceAdminClient(ctx,
-			option.WithoutAuthentication(),
-			option.WithGRPCDialOption(grpc.WithInsecure()),
-			option.WithEndpoint("0.0.0.0:9010"),
-		)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		defer func() { _ = ic.Close() }()
+	// clients
+	ic, err := instance.NewInstanceAdminClient(ctx,
+		option.WithoutAuthentication(),
+		option.WithGRPCDialOption(grpc.WithTransportCredentials(insecure.NewCredentials())),
+		option.WithEndpoint("0.0.0.0:9010"),
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer ic.Close()
+	dc, err := database.NewDatabaseAdminClient(ctx,
+		option.WithoutAuthentication(),
+		option.WithGRPCDialOption(grpc.WithTransportCredentials(insecure.NewCredentials())),
+		option.WithEndpoint("0.0.0.0:9010"),
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer dc.Close()
 
+	errg, errctx := errgroup.WithContext(ctx)
+	for _, dbase := range databases {
+		errg.Go(func() error {
+			return ensureDatabase(errctx, ic, dc, dbase)
+		})
+	}
+	return errg.Wait()
+}
+
+func ensureDatabase(ctx context.Context, ic *instance.InstanceAdminClient, dc *database.DatabaseAdminClient, db dbase) error {
+	if db.inst != "" && db.proj != "" {
 		cir := &instancepb.CreateInstanceRequest{
-			InstanceId: inst,
+			InstanceId: db.inst,
 			Instance: &instancepb.Instance{
 				Config:      "emulator-config",
 				DisplayName: "",
 				NodeCount:   1,
 			},
-			Parent: "projects/" + proj,
+			Parent: "projects/" + db.proj,
 		}
 
-		log.Printf("attempting to create instance %v\n", inst)
+		log.Printf("attempting to create instance %v\n", db.inst)
 		if cirOp, err := ic.CreateInstance(ctx, cir, gax.WithGRPCOptions(grpc.WaitForReady(true))); err != nil {
 			// get the status code
 			if errStatus, ok := status.FromError(err); ok {
@@ -78,20 +103,11 @@ func ensureDatabase(ctx context.Context) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if db != "" {
-		dc, err := database.NewDatabaseAdminClient(ctx,
-			option.WithoutAuthentication(),
-			option.WithGRPCDialOption(grpc.WithInsecure()),
-			option.WithEndpoint("0.0.0.0:9010"),
-		)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		defer func() { _ = dc.Close() }()
+	if db.db != "" {
 		log.Printf("attempting to create database %v\n", db)
 		cdr := &databasepb.CreateDatabaseRequest{
-			Parent:          "projects/" + proj + "/instances/" + inst,
-			CreateStatement: "CREATE DATABASE `" + db + "`",
+			Parent:          "projects/" + db.proj + "/instances/" + db.inst,
+			CreateStatement: "CREATE DATABASE `" + db.db + "`",
 		}
 		if cdrOp, err := dc.CreateDatabase(ctx, cdr); err != nil {
 			// get the status code
@@ -117,3 +133,27 @@ func ensureDatabase(ctx context.Context) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+var dbRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`^projects/([^/]+)/instances/([^/]+)(?:/databases/([^/]+))?$`)
+
+func resolveDBs(proj, inst, db, dbs string) []dbase {
+	result := []dbase{}
+	if proj != "" && inst != "" {
+		result = append(result, dbase{proj, inst, db})
+	}
+	list := strings.Split(dbs, ",")
+	for _, l := range list {
+		if l == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		m := dbRegex.FindStringSubmatch(l)
+		if m == nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		result = append(result, dbase{m[1], m[2], m[3]})
+	}
+	return result
+}
+
+type dbase struct {
+	proj, inst, db string
+}