diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index eca1040..e0522e3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -125,5 +125,21 @@ jobs:
           push: false
           provenance: false
           tags: crumbs:ci
+          load: true
           cache-from: type=gha,scope=ci-docker
           cache-to: type=gha,scope=ci-docker,mode=max
+
+      # Regression for #93: a host folder bind-mounted at /data is owned by the
+      # host user (the runner, uid 1001), not the container's node user (1000)
+      - name: Start with a host-owned bind mount
+        run: |
+          mkdir -p "$RUNNER_TEMP/crumbs-data"
+          docker run -d --name crumbs -p 3000:3000 -v "$RUNNER_TEMP/crumbs-data:/data" crumbs:ci
+          for i in $(seq 1 30); do
+            if curl -fsS -o /dev/null http://localhost:3000/login; then
+              test -f "$RUNNER_TEMP/crumbs-data/crumbs.db" && exit 0
+            fi
+            sleep 1
+          done
+          docker logs crumbs
+          exit 1
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 00d629a..a2ea7b4 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -37,8 +37,10 @@ COPY --from=build /app/package.json ./
 # Create data directory
 RUN mkdir -p /data && chown -R node:node /data
 
-# Use non-root user
-USER node
+# Runs as root only long enough to hand the data folder (often a host bind
+# mount) to the node user, then drops privileges — see crumbs-entrypoint.sh
+COPY crumbs-entrypoint.sh /usr/local/bin/crumbs-entrypoint.sh
+ENTRYPOINT ["crumbs-entrypoint.sh"]
 
 # Configuration
 ENV NODE_ENV=production
diff --git a/crumbs-entrypoint.sh b/crumbs-entrypoint.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..2803636
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crumbs-entrypoint.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# Starts as root so a bind-mounted data folder owned by the host user can be
+# handed to the unprivileged `node` user, then drops privileges before running
+# the app. Without this, a host folder mounted at /data is not writable by
+# uid 1000 and SQLite fails with SQLITE_CANTOPEN.
+set -e
+
+if [ "$(id -u)" = "0" ]; then
+	for dir in "${DATA_DIR:-/data}" "$(dirname "${DATABASE_URL:-/data/crumbs.db}")"; do
+		mkdir -p "$dir"
+		# Only touch entries not already owned by node, so restarts on a large
+		# attachment folder stay fast.
+		find "$dir" \! -user node -exec chown node:node {} + ||
+			echo "warning: could not change ownership of $dir; it must be writable by uid 1000" >&2
+	done
+	exec setpriv --reuid=node --regid=node --init-groups "$@"
+fi
+
+# Started with an explicit non-root user (e.g. `user:` in compose): run as-is.
+exec "$@"
diff --git a/docs/DEPLOYMENT.md b/docs/DEPLOYMENT.md
index 83b973d..7665b15 100644
--- a/docs/DEPLOYMENT.md
+++ b/docs/DEPLOYMENT.md
@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ services:
     restart: unless-stopped
 ```
 
+The app runs as the image's `node` user (uid 1000). On startup the container hands ownership of a
+bind-mounted data folder to uid 1000, so a folder created by any host user works as-is. If you set
+`user:` in compose, that step is skipped and the folder must already be writable by that user.
+
 ### Reverse Proxy (nginx)
 
 ```nginx