diff --git a/.nfpm/soft-serve.service b/.nfpm/soft-serve.service
index 8c2845e7c9f1e78f9b845ee85dc42284cdc55bf9..7abddb1b8dd8f5f67996f2cbf9bc78a600a5efd0 100644
--- a/.nfpm/soft-serve.service
+++ b/.nfpm/soft-serve.service
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ Group=soft-serve
 Restart=always
 RestartSec=1
 ExecStart=/usr/bin/soft serve
+Environment=SOFT_SERVE_DATA_PATH=/var/lib/soft-serve
 EnvironmentFile=-/etc/soft-serve.conf
 WorkingDirectory=/var/lib/soft-serve