diff --git a/Dockerfile.activator b/Dockerfile.activator
index eff3fbeb..24b50a66 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.activator
+++ b/Dockerfile.activator
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ ARG PORT
 ARG CALIB_REPO
 ARG IMAGE_BUCKET
 ARG IMAGE_TIMEOUT
+ARG BUCKET_TOPIC
 WORKDIR $APP_HOME
 COPY python/activator activator/
 COPY pipelines pipelines/
diff --git a/python/activator/activator.py b/python/activator/activator.py
index 38a46598..44cf45d6 100644
--- a/python/activator/activator.py
+++ b/python/activator/activator.py
@@ -65,8 +65,7 @@
 # Kafka group; must be worker-unique to keep workers from "stealing" messages for others.
 kafka_group_id = str(uuid.uuid4())
 # The topic on which to listen to updates to image_bucket
-# bucket_topic = f"{instrument_name}-image"
-bucket_topic = "rubin-prompt-processing"
+bucket_topic = os.environ.get("BUCKET_TOPIC", "rubin-prompt-processing")
 
 setup_usdf_logger(
     labels={"instrument": instrument_name},