diff --git a/.devcontainer/container-startup.sh b/.devcontainer/container-startup.sh
index 7b903a19c..f1458e46b 100755
--- a/.devcontainer/container-startup.sh
+++ b/.devcontainer/container-startup.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
-SCRATCH_AREA="/blueapi-plugins/scratch"
+if [[ -z "${SCRATCH_AREA}" ]]; then
+  SCRATCH_AREA="/blueapi-plugins/scratch"
+fi
 
 mkdir -p ${SCRATCH_AREA}
 
diff --git a/helm/blueapi/templates/deployment.yaml b/helm/blueapi/templates/deployment.yaml
index fe60cc41a..7032e816a 100644
--- a/helm/blueapi/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/helm/blueapi/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -67,6 +67,9 @@ spec:
             - "/config/secret.yaml"
             {{- end }}
             - "serve"
+          env:
+            - name: SCRATCH_AREA
+              value: {{ .Values.scratch.containerPath }}
       {{- with .Values.nodeSelector }}
       nodeSelector:
         {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}