diff --git a/templates/docker-compose-gitea.yml.tpl b/templates/docker-compose-gitea.yml.tpl
index 0c24289..2f2ffec 100644
--- a/templates/docker-compose-gitea.yml.tpl
+++ b/templates/docker-compose-gitea.yml.tpl
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 # Variables: GITEA_VERSION, DATA_PATH, GITEA_CONTAINER_IP, GITEA_NETWORK_NAME
 # DATA_PATH is host-specific (UNRAID_GITEA_DATA_PATH or FEDORA_GITEA_DATA_PATH)
 # DB_SERVICE block is stripped for sqlite3, kept for mysql/postgres/mssql.
+# INTERNAL_NET blocks are also stripped for sqlite3 (no DB = no internal network).
 
 version: "3"
 
@@ -21,8 +22,7 @@ ${DB_ENV_VARS}
       timeout: 5s
       retries: 5
     networks:
-      ${GITEA_NETWORK_NAME}:
-        ipv4_address: ${DB_CONTAINER_IP}
+      - gitea-internal
 # DB_SERVICE_END
 
   gitea:
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ ${DB_ENV_VARS}
     networks:
       ${GITEA_NETWORK_NAME}:
         ipv4_address: ${GITEA_CONTAINER_IP}
+# INTERNAL_NET_REF_START
+      gitea-internal:
+# INTERNAL_NET_REF_END
     healthcheck:
       test: ["CMD", "curl", "-sf", "http://localhost:3000/api/v1/version"]
       interval: 30s
@@ -55,3 +58,8 @@ ${DB_ENV_VARS}
 networks:
   ${GITEA_NETWORK_NAME}:
     external: true
+# INTERNAL_NET_DEF_START
+  gitea-internal:
+    driver: bridge
+    internal: true
+# INTERNAL_NET_DEF_END