diff --git a/docker/entrypoint.sh b/docker/entrypoint.sh
index 11f9d444..321da2b3 100644
--- a/docker/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/docker/entrypoint.sh
@@ -1,15 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
-# Copy example config if no config.json exists (check volume mount first)
-if [ ! -f /app/data/config.json ]; then
-  echo "[entrypoint] No config.json found in /app/data/, copying example"
-  cp /app/config.example.json /app/data/config.json
+# Copy example config if no config.json exists at app root (not bind-mounted)
+if [ ! -f /app/config.json ]; then
+  echo "[entrypoint] No config.json found, copying from config.example.json"
+  cp /app/config.example.json /app/config.json
 fi
 
-# Symlink so the app finds it at /app/config.json
-ln -sf /app/data/config.json /app/config.json
-
-# Same for theme.json (optional)
+# theme.json: check data/ volume (admin-editable on host)
 if [ -f /app/data/theme.json ]; then
   ln -sf /app/data/theme.json /app/theme.json
 fi
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
index 03931035..b0f81be4 100644
--- a/server.js
+++ b/server.js
@@ -7,10 +7,10 @@ const { WebSocketServer } = require('ws');
 const mqtt = require('mqtt');
 const path = require('path');
 const fs = require('fs');
-// Config: checks data/ dir first (Docker volume), then app dir
+// Config: bind-mounted config.json first, then fall back to data/ dir
 const CONFIG_PATHS = [
-  path.join(__dirname, 'data', 'config.json'),
-  path.join(__dirname, 'config.json')
+  path.join(__dirname, 'config.json'),
+  path.join(__dirname, 'data', 'config.json')
 ];
 function loadConfigFile() {
   for (const p of CONFIG_PATHS) {