diff --git a/charms/nova-k8s/src/charm.py b/charms/nova-k8s/src/charm.py
index c017cf9a..00715f69 100755
--- a/charms/nova-k8s/src/charm.py
+++ b/charms/nova-k8s/src/charm.py
@@ -276,17 +276,7 @@ class NovaOperatorCharm(sunbeam_charm.OSBaseOperatorAPICharm):
                 cell_database,
             ],
             ["sudo", "-u", "nova", "nova-manage", "db", "sync"],
-            [
-                "sudo",
-                "-u",
-                "nova",
-                "nova-manage",
-                "cell_v2",
-                "create_cell",
-                "--name",
-                "cell1",
-                "--verbose",
-            ],
+            ["/root/cell_create_wrapper.sh", "cell1"],
         ]
 
     @property
@@ -392,6 +382,19 @@ class NovaOperatorCharm(sunbeam_charm.OSBaseOperatorAPICharm):
         )
         return _cadapters
 
+    @property
+    def container_configs(self) -> List[sunbeam_core.ContainerConfigFile]:
+        """Container configuration files for the service."""
+        _cconfigs = super().container_configs
+        _cconfigs.extend(
+            [
+                sunbeam_core.ContainerConfigFile(
+                    "/root/cell_create_wrapper.sh", "root", "root", 0o755
+                )
+            ]
+        )
+        return _cconfigs
+
     def get_shared_metadatasecret(self):
         """Return the shared metadata secret."""
         return self.leader_get(self.shared_metadata_secret_key)
@@ -529,6 +532,4 @@ class NovaOperatorCharm(sunbeam_charm.OSBaseOperatorAPICharm):
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-    # Note: use_juju_for_storage=True required per
-    # https://github.com/canonical/operator/issues/506
-    main(NovaOperatorCharm, use_juju_for_storage=True)
+    main(NovaOperatorCharm)
diff --git a/charms/nova-k8s/src/templates/cell_create_wrapper.sh.j2 b/charms/nova-k8s/src/templates/cell_create_wrapper.sh.j2
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4fc621c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/charms/nova-k8s/src/templates/cell_create_wrapper.sh.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+cell_name=$1
+
+sudo -u nova nova-manage cell_v2 list_cells | \
+    awk '{FS="|"} /cell/ {print "!" $2 "!"}' | \
+    grep -E "${cell_name}\s" &> /dev/null
+if [[ $? -eq 0 ]]; then
+    echo "${cell_name} already exists"
+else
+    sudo -u nova nova-manage cell_v2 create_cell --name $cell_name --verbose
+fi
diff --git a/charms/nova-k8s/tests/unit/test_nova_charm.py b/charms/nova-k8s/tests/unit/test_nova_charm.py
index ac7583f4..07d78263 100644
--- a/charms/nova-k8s/tests/unit/test_nova_charm.py
+++ b/charms/nova-k8s/tests/unit/test_nova_charm.py
@@ -118,17 +118,7 @@ class TestNovaOperatorCharm(test_utils.CharmTestCase):
                 "mysql+pymysql://foo:hardpassword@10.0.0.10/nova_cell0",
             ],
             ["sudo", "-u", "nova", "nova-manage", "db", "sync"],
-            [
-                "sudo",
-                "-u",
-                "nova",
-                "nova-manage",
-                "cell_v2",
-                "create_cell",
-                "--name",
-                "cell1",
-                "--verbose",
-            ],
+            ["/root/cell_create_wrapper.sh", "cell1"],
         ]
         for cmd in setup_cmds:
             self.assertIn(cmd, self.container_calls.execute["nova-api"])