diff --git a/tin/asgi.py b/tin/asgi.py
index 9cfda6dd..cb4ac322 100644
--- a/tin/asgi.py
+++ b/tin/asgi.py
@@ -17,9 +17,13 @@
 from django.core.asgi import get_asgi_application
 from django.urls import path
 
-from .apps.submissions.consumers import SubmissionJsonConsumer
-
 os.environ.setdefault("DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE", "tin.settings")
+# 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 .apps.submissions.consumers import SubmissionJsonConsumer  # fmt: off
 
 
 class WebsocketCloseConsumer(WebsocketConsumer):
@@ -36,7 +40,7 @@ def disconnect(self, code):
 
 application = ProtocolTypeRouter(
     {
-        "http": get_asgi_application(),
+        "http": django_asgi_app,
         "websocket": AuthMiddlewareStack(
             URLRouter(
                 [