diff --git a/build/release/Dockerfile-build b/build/release/Dockerfile-build
index 4ad4cd228c..6c6587e6a3 100644
--- a/build/release/Dockerfile-build
+++ b/build/release/Dockerfile-build
@@ -24,5 +24,5 @@ WORKDIR /app
 COPY --from=build /build/owncast /app/owncast
 COPY --from=build /build/webroot /app/webroot
 COPY --from=build /build/static /app/static
-COPY --from=build /build/data /app/data
+RUN mkdir /app/data
 CMD ["/app/owncast"]
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index aea4390b7d..3a51fcd87f 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"flag"
+	"os"
 	"strconv"
 	"time"
 
@@ -56,6 +57,11 @@ func main() {
 	}
 	log.Infoln(config.GetReleaseString())
 
+	// Create the data directory if needed
+	if !utils.DoesFileExists("data") {
+		os.Mkdir("./data", 0700)
+	}
+
 	// Allows a user to restore a specific database backup
 	if *restoreDatabaseFile != "" {
 		databaseFile := config.DatabaseFilePath