diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 6ace0d6..1f02ff3 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -46,7 +46,11 @@ COPY bugsink/conf_templates/docker.py.template bugsink_conf.py
 # Git is needed by setuptools_scm to get the version from the git tag
 RUN apt update && apt install -y git
 RUN pip install -e .
-RUN groupadd -r bugsink && useradd  -r -g bugsink bugsink
+
+RUN groupadd -r bugsink \
+ && useradd  -r -g bugsink bugsink \
+ && mkdir -p /data \
+ && chown -R bugsink:bugsink /data
 
 USER bugsink
 
diff --git a/Dockerfile.fromwheel b/Dockerfile.fromwheel
index 96801aa..476011b 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.fromwheel
+++ b/Dockerfile.fromwheel
@@ -73,7 +73,11 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/var/cache/buildkit/pip \
 COPY bugsink/conf_templates/docker.py.template bugsink_conf.py
 COPY gunicorn.docker.conf.py /app/
 
-RUN groupadd -r bugsink && useradd  -r -g bugsink bugsink
+RUN groupadd -r bugsink \
+ && useradd  -r -g bugsink bugsink \
+ && mkdir -p /data \
+ && chown -R bugsink:bugsink /data
+
 USER bugsink
 
 RUN ["bugsink-manage", "migrate", "snappea", "--database=snappea"]
diff --git a/bugsink/conf_templates/docker.py.template b/bugsink/conf_templates/docker.py.template
index ff1ea4a..a390c54 100644
--- a/bugsink/conf_templates/docker.py.template
+++ b/bugsink/conf_templates/docker.py.template
@@ -103,10 +103,6 @@ else:
     # which allows for throwaway setups (no volume mounted) to work out of the box.
     DATABASES['default']['NAME'] = os.getenv("DATABASE_PATH", '/data/db.sqlite3')
     database_path = os.path.dirname(DATABASES['default']['NAME'])
-    if not os.path.exists(database_path):
-        print(f"WARNING: {database_path} dir does not exist; creating it.")
-        print("WARNING: data will be lost when the container is removed.")
-        os.makedirs(database_path)
 
 
 if os.getenv("EMAIL_HOST"):