diff --git a/src/load-config.js b/src/load-config.js
index d99ce4211..19696d59d 100644
--- a/src/load-config.js
+++ b/src/load-config.js
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@ debug(`project root: '${projectRoot}'`);
 export const sqlDir = path.join(projectRoot, 'src', 'sql');
 
 let defaultDataDir = fs.existsSync('/data') ? '/data' : projectRoot;
+
+if (process.env.ACTUAL_DATA_DIR) {
+  defaultDataDir = process.env.ACTUAL_DATA_DIR;
+}
+
 debug(`default data directory: '${defaultDataDir}'`);
 
 function parseJSON(path, allowMissing = false) {
@@ -135,7 +140,6 @@ const finalConfig = {
         }
       : config.upload,
 };
-
 debug(`using port ${finalConfig.port}`);
 debug(`using hostname ${finalConfig.hostname}`);
 debug(`using data directory ${finalConfig.dataDir}`);
diff --git a/upcoming-release-notes/480.md b/upcoming-release-notes/480.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bdc690232
--- /dev/null
+++ b/upcoming-release-notes/480.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+category: Enhancements
+authors: [MikesGlitch]
+---
+
+Allow data directory to be overridden by env variable