diff --git a/make_dev_container.sh b/make_dev_container.sh
index d53c7eb2e279a99848001e0df5a80d138bcd583c..6a057663f12248a66401b37c5a467e53830e0532 100755
--- a/make_dev_container.sh
+++ b/make_dev_container.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,13 @@ docker exec symposion ./manage.py migrate
 docker exec symposion ./manage.py loaddata ./fixtures/*.json
 docker exec symposion ./manage.py populate_inventory
 docker exec symposion ./manage.py create_review_permissions
-docker exec -it symposion ./manage.py createsuperuser --username root --email root@example.com
+if [ -e ./symposion-fixtures ]; then
+    pushd ./symposion-fixtures
+    ./load_data_local.sh
+    popd
+else
+    docker exec -it symposion ./manage.py createsuperuser --username root --email root@example.com
+fi
 
 set +x
 echo "Now you can log into http://localhost:28000/admin"