diff --git a/core/common/management/commands/load_fixtures.py b/core/common/management/commands/load_fixtures.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..082a122f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/common/management/commands/load_fixtures.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import os
+from glob import glob
+
+from django.conf import settings
+from django.core.management import BaseCommand, call_command
+
+from core.orgs.models import Organization
+
+FIXTURES_DIR = os.path.join(settings.BASE_DIR, 'core', 'fixtures')
+OCL_ORG = os.path.join(FIXTURES_DIR, 'ocl_org.yaml')
+
+
+class Command(BaseCommand):
+    help = 'load core/fixtures on container start; ocl_org.yaml only when the OCL org does not exist yet'
+
+    def handle(self, *args, **options):
+        fixtures = sorted(glob(os.path.join(FIXTURES_DIR, '*')))
+        if Organization.objects.filter(id=1).exists():
+            fixtures.remove(OCL_ORG)
+        call_command('loaddata', *fixtures, verbosity=options['verbosity'])
diff --git a/core/common/tests.py b/core/common/tests.py
index 4194bf67c..015e44435 100644
--- a/core/common/tests.py
+++ b/core/common/tests.py
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ class OCLAPITransactionTestCase(APITransactionTestCase, BaseTestCase):
     @classmethod
     def setUpClass(cls):
         super().setUpClass()
-        call_command("loaddata", "core/fixtures/base_entities.yaml")
+        call_command("loaddata", "core/fixtures/base_entities.yaml", "core/fixtures/ocl_org.yaml")
         call_command("loaddata", "core/fixtures/auth_groups.yaml")
         call_command("loaddata", "core/fixtures/capabilities.yaml")
         call_command("loaddata", "core/fixtures/toggles.json")
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ class OCLAPITestCase(APITestCase, BaseTestCase):
     @classmethod
     def setUpClass(cls):
         super().setUpClass()
-        call_command("loaddata", "core/fixtures/base_entities.yaml")
+        call_command("loaddata", "core/fixtures/base_entities.yaml", "core/fixtures/ocl_org.yaml")
         call_command("loaddata", "core/fixtures/auth_groups.yaml")
         call_command("loaddata", "core/fixtures/capabilities.yaml")
         call_command("loaddata", "core/fixtures/toggles.json")
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ class OCLTestCase(TestCase, BaseTestCase):
     @classmethod
     def setUpClass(cls):
         super().setUpClass()
-        call_command("loaddata", "core/fixtures/base_entities.yaml")
+        call_command("loaddata", "core/fixtures/base_entities.yaml", "core/fixtures/ocl_org.yaml")
         call_command("loaddata", "core/fixtures/auth_groups.yaml")
         call_command("loaddata", "core/fixtures/capabilities.yaml")
         call_command("loaddata", "core/fixtures/toggles.json")
diff --git a/core/common/tests_load_fixtures.py b/core/common/tests_load_fixtures.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..be26e0ca0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/common/tests_load_fixtures.py
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+from django.core.management import call_command
+
+from core.capabilities.models import Capability
+from core.common.tests import OCLTestCase
+from core.orgs.models import Organization
+from core.users.models import UserProfile
+
+
+class LoadFixturesCommandTest(OCLTestCase):
+    def test_keeps_an_existing_ocl_org(self):
+        edits = {
+            'name': 'Open Concept Lab', 'text': '<p>About OCL</p>', 'description': 'Shared reference content',
+            'overview': {'background': {'image': 'https://example.org/banner.png'}},
+        }
+        Organization.objects.filter(id=1).update(**edits)
+
+        call_command('load_fixtures', verbosity=0)
+
+        self.assertEqual(Organization.objects.filter(id=1).values(*edits).get(), edits)
+
+    def test_reloads_the_other_fixtures(self):
+        Capability.objects.filter(id=1).update(description='changed')
+
+        call_command('load_fixtures', verbosity=0)
+
+        self.assertEqual(Capability.objects.get(id=1).description, 'Number of map projects a user may create')
+
+    def test_startup_restores_a_demoted_or_deactivated_ocladmin(self):
+        UserProfile.objects.filter(username='ocladmin').update(
+            is_superuser=False, is_staff=False, is_active=False, verified=False)
+
+        call_command('load_fixtures', verbosity=0)
+        call_command('setup_superuser')
+
+        ocladmin = UserProfile.objects.get(username='ocladmin')
+        self.assertTrue(ocladmin.is_superuser)
+        self.assertTrue(ocladmin.is_staff)
+        self.assertTrue(ocladmin.is_active)
+        self.assertTrue(ocladmin.verified)
+
+    def test_seeds_the_ocl_org_and_ocladmin_on_a_new_database(self):
+        Organization.objects.filter(id=1).delete()
+        UserProfile.objects.filter(id=1).delete()
+
+        call_command('load_fixtures', verbosity=0)
+
+        self.assertEqual(Organization.objects.get(id=1).mnemonic, 'OCL')
+        self.assertTrue(UserProfile.objects.get(id=1, username='ocladmin').is_superuser)
diff --git a/core/fixtures/auth_groups.yaml b/core/fixtures/auth_groups.yaml
index 2c4ab0bfb..7b9c0a3d7 100644
--- a/core/fixtures/auth_groups.yaml
+++ b/core/fixtures/auth_groups.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # The Mapper-gating and authoring Django permissions (ocl_issues#2780/#2782/#2766, ocl_online#230). Plan groups granting
 # them are seeded by `manage.py seed_group_capabilities` from deployment config.
-# pk is pinned so re-running `loaddata core/fixtures/*` on every container start
-# (pre_startup.sh) updates these same rows instead of inserting duplicates on the
+# pk is pinned so reloading the fixtures on every container start (`manage.py
+# load_fixtures` in pre_startup.sh) updates these same rows instead of inserting duplicates on the
 # unique (content_type, codename) constraint - same reasoning as the group pks below,
 # but starting well above them: auth_permission already had 252 rows (max id 252,
 # confirmed against the dev database) and keeps growing as new models are added, unlike
diff --git a/core/fixtures/base_entities.yaml b/core/fixtures/base_entities.yaml
index 52ce2dffe..5cdbc0b9a 100644
--- a/core/fixtures/base_entities.yaml
+++ b/core/fixtures/base_entities.yaml
@@ -1,14 +1,3 @@
-- model: "orgs.organization"
-  pk: 1
-  fields:
-    name: OCL
-    company: OCL
-    mnemonic: OCL
-    website: "http://openconceptlab.org"
-    created_at: "2020-06-08T08:00:00+00:00"
-    updated_at: "2020-06-08T08:00:00+00:00"
-    created_by: 1
-    updated_by: 1
 - model: "users.userprofile"
   pk: 1
   fields:
diff --git a/core/fixtures/ocl_org.yaml b/core/fixtures/ocl_org.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b931d582c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/fixtures/ocl_org.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+# Loaded on a new database only (`manage.py load_fixtures`): reloading it would overwrite the OCL org's
+# text, description, logo and overview on every container start (OpenConceptLab/ocl_issues#2911).
+- model: "orgs.organization"
+  pk: 1
+  fields:
+    name: OCL
+    company: OCL
+    mnemonic: OCL
+    website: "http://openconceptlab.org"
+    created_at: "2020-06-08T08:00:00+00:00"
+    updated_at: "2020-06-08T08:00:00+00:00"
+    created_by: 1
+    updated_by: 1
diff --git a/pre_startup.sh b/pre_startup.sh
index 8ce4e112c..00e2d3457 100755
--- a/pre_startup.sh
+++ b/pre_startup.sh
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ export NO_ENCODER=TRUE
 echo "Running DB migrations"
 python manage.py migrate
 echo "Importing base entities"
-python manage.py loaddata core/fixtures/*
+python manage.py load_fixtures
 
 echo "Seeding default group capability limits"
 python manage.py seed_group_capabilities