diff --git a/zwave_js/rootfs/etc/cont-init.d/structure.sh b/zwave_js/rootfs/etc/cont-init.d/structure.sh
index 9be2e0c..98f5fb1 100644
--- a/zwave_js/rootfs/etc/cont-init.d/structure.sh
+++ b/zwave_js/rootfs/etc/cont-init.d/structure.sh
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@
 # Setup folder structure
 # ==============================================================================
 mkdir -p /data/cache
+mkdir -p /data/db
diff --git a/zwave_js/rootfs/etc/services.d/zwave_js/run b/zwave_js/rootfs/etc/services.d/zwave_js/run
index f283830..7fcd4f2 100644
--- a/zwave_js/rootfs/etc/services.d/zwave_js/run
+++ b/zwave_js/rootfs/etc/services.d/zwave_js/run
@@ -12,5 +12,8 @@ fi
 # Send out discovery information to Home Assistant
 ./discovery &
 
-# Run daemon
+# Set external config directory
+export ZWAVEJS_EXTERNAL_CONFIG=/data/db
+
+# Run daemon, passing external config directory in as environment variable
 exec zwave-server ${SERIAL_DEVICE} --config /etc/zwave_config.json