diff --git a/bin/start_service.sh b/bin/start_service.sh
index 49d915e..79ef03f 100755
--- a/bin/start_service.sh
+++ b/bin/start_service.sh
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ uv sync --frozen --project ${APP_DIR}
 # activate .venv, this works in conjunction with the conda environment
 source ${APP_DIR}/.venv/bin/activate
 
-# TODO: use `exec python3 ...` here?
-python -u -B -m agebd_${SVC_NAME_LOWER_UNDERSCORES}.main
+exec python -u -B -m agebd_${SVC_NAME_LOWER_UNDERSCORES}.main
 
 # TODO: remove: cicd test 57