diff --git a/modules/postgres/wait_strategies.go b/modules/postgres/wait_strategies.go
index 92dc3f6ec6..461fc5f695 100644
--- a/modules/postgres/wait_strategies.go
+++ b/modules/postgres/wait_strategies.go
@@ -6,9 +6,15 @@ import (
 )
 
 // BasicWaitStrategies is a simple but reliable way to wait for postgres to start.
-// It returns a two-step wait strategy:
+// It returns a three-step wait strategy:
 //
 //   - It will wait for the container to log `database system is ready to accept connections` twice, because it will restart itself after the first startup.
+//   - It will then probe the live server state with `pg_isready` until postgres accepts connections.
+//     Container logs survive restarts, so on a reused container the log message of a previous run
+//     could otherwise report readiness before the current process accepts connections
+//     (https://github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-go/issues/3671). The probe prefers the
+//     unix socket, falls back to TCP on loopback honoring PGPORT, needs no valid credentials,
+//     and is skipped on images that do not ship pg_isready, preserving the previous behavior.
 //   - It will then wait for docker to actually serve the port on localhost.
 //     For non-linux OSes like Mac and Windows, Docker or Rancher Desktop will have to start a separate proxy.
 //     Without this, the tests will be flaky on those OSes!
@@ -18,6 +24,10 @@ func BasicWaitStrategies() testcontainers.CustomizeRequestOption {
 		// First, we wait for the container to log readiness twice.
 		// This is because it will restart itself after the first startup.
 		wait.ForLog("database system is ready to accept connections").WithOccurrence(2),
+		// Then, we probe the live server state until it accepts connections, because
+		// the log message of a previous run of a reused container cannot prove that
+		// the current process is ready. Skipped on images without pg_isready.
+		wait.ForExec([]string{"sh", "-c", `command -v pg_isready >/dev/null 2>&1 || exit 0; pg_isready || pg_isready -h 127.0.0.1 -p "${PGPORT:-5432}"`}),
 		// Then, we wait for docker to actually serve the port on localhost.
 		// For non-linux OSes like Mac and Windows, Docker or Rancher Desktop will have to start a separate proxy.
 		// Without this, the tests will be flaky on those OSes!
diff --git a/modules/postgres/wait_strategies_test.go b/modules/postgres/wait_strategies_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f4a34c940e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/postgres/wait_strategies_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+package postgres_test
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"database/sql"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+
+	"github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-go"
+	"github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-go/modules/postgres"
+)
+
+// TestBasicWaitStrategies_reusedContainer reproduces the false-positive ready
+// signal reported in https://github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-go/issues/3671:
+// container logs survive restarts, so on a reused container a log-based wait
+// strategy can be satisfied by the output of a previous run and unblock before
+// the current postgres process accepts connections.
+func TestBasicWaitStrategies_reusedContainer(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+
+	reuseName := fmt.Sprintf("postgres-reused-wait-%d", time.Now().UnixNano())
+
+	run := func() *postgres.PostgresContainer {
+		t.Helper()
+		ctr, err := postgres.Run(ctx, "postgres:16-alpine",
+			postgres.WithDatabase(dbname),
+			postgres.WithUsername(user),
+			postgres.WithPassword(password),
+			postgres.BasicWaitStrategies(),
+			testcontainers.WithReuseByName(reuseName),
+		)
+		testcontainers.CleanupContainer(t, ctr)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		return ctr
+	}
+
+	connect := func(c *postgres.PostgresContainer) *sql.DB {
+		t.Helper()
+		connStr, err := c.ConnectionString(ctx, "sslmode=disable")
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		db, err := sql.Open("pgx", connStr)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		t.Cleanup(func() { db.Close() })
+		return db
+	}
+
+	// recoveries returns how many crash recoveries the container has logged.
+	// Logs accumulate across restarts of the same container, which is the very
+	// property that makes log-based waits unsafe with reuse.
+	recoveries := func(c *postgres.PostgresContainer) int {
+		t.Helper()
+		rc, err := c.Logs(ctx)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		defer rc.Close()
+		logs, err := io.ReadAll(rc)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		return strings.Count(string(logs), "database system was not properly shut down")
+	}
+
+	const rowCount = 3_000_000
+
+	ctr := run()
+
+	db := connect(ctr)
+	_, err := db.ExecContext(ctx, "CREATE TABLE reuse_wait (v int)")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	for i := 0; i < 2; i++ {
+		// Generate WAL so that the unclean restart below has to run crash
+		// recovery, during which postgres does not accept connections yet.
+		_, err = db.ExecContext(ctx, "TRUNCATE reuse_wait")
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		_, err = db.ExecContext(ctx, fmt.Sprintf("INSERT INTO reuse_wait SELECT generate_series(1, %d)", rowCount))
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		// Stop with a zero timeout follows the stop signal with an immediate
+		// SIGKILL. The session opened above is kept open on purpose: postgres
+		// waits for it on SIGTERM, so the SIGKILL always interrupts an unclean
+		// shutdown and the next start is guaranteed to run crash recovery.
+		noGrace := time.Duration(0)
+		require.NoError(t, ctr.Stop(ctx, &noGrace))
+
+		ctr = run()
+
+		// The wait strategy must not unblock before postgres accepts
+		// connections: a single attempt with no retries must succeed.
+		db = connect(ctr)
+		var rows int
+		require.NoErrorf(t, db.QueryRowContext(ctx, "SELECT count(*) FROM reuse_wait").Scan(&rows),
+			"reuse cycle %d: container reported ready before postgres accepted connections", i)
+		require.Equal(t, rowCount, rows)
+
+		// Guard the reproducer itself: every cycle must have gone through
+		// crash recovery, otherwise the scenario above degraded silently.
+		require.Equalf(t, i+1, recoveries(ctr), "reuse cycle %d: expected the restart to run crash recovery", i)
+	}
+}