diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c0d8cc97d..0c4906035 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ FIX: Document unique names
 
 FIX: reduce Docker image sizes (https://github.com/openziti/zrok/pull/783)
 
+FIX: Docker reserved private share startup error (https://github.com/openziti/zrok/pull/801)
+
 FIX: Correct the download URL for the armv7 Linux release (https://github.com/openziti/zrok/issues/782)
 
 CHANGE: briefly mention the backend modes that apply to public and private share concepts
diff --git a/nfpm/zrok-share.bash b/nfpm/zrok-share.bash
index 764b8d014..d46edb8f1 100644
--- a/nfpm/zrok-share.bash
+++ b/nfpm/zrok-share.bash
@@ -217,12 +217,14 @@ else
     echo "ERROR: invalid JSON in $(realpath ~/.zrok)/reserved.json" >&2
     exit 1
   else
-    ZROK_PUBLIC_URLS=$(jq -cr '.frontend_endpoints' ~/.zrok/reserved.json 2>/dev/null)
-    if [[ -z "${ZROK_PUBLIC_URLS}" || "${ZROK_PUBLIC_URLS}" == null ]]; then
-      echo "ERROR: frontend endpoints not defined in $(realpath ~/.zrok)/reserved.json" >&2
-      exit 1
-    else
-      echo "INFO: zrok public URLs: ${ZROK_PUBLIC_URLS}"
+    if [[ "${ZROK_FRONTEND_MODE:-}" == reserved-public ]]; then
+      ZROK_PUBLIC_URLS=$(jq -cr '.frontend_endpoints' ~/.zrok/reserved.json 2>/dev/null)
+      if [[ -z "${ZROK_PUBLIC_URLS}" || "${ZROK_PUBLIC_URLS}" == null ]]; then
+        echo "ERROR: frontend endpoints not defined in $(realpath ~/.zrok)/reserved.json" >&2
+        exit 1
+      else
+        echo "INFO: zrok public URLs: ${ZROK_PUBLIC_URLS}"
+      fi
     fi
     ZROK_RESERVED_TOKEN=$(jq -r '.token' ~/.zrok/reserved.json 2>/dev/null)
     if [[ -z "${ZROK_RESERVED_TOKEN}" || "${ZROK_RESERVED_TOKEN}" == null ]]; then