diff --git a/scripts/deploy-rust-remote.sh b/scripts/deploy-rust-remote.sh
index 37dff37b..1d949f16 100644
--- a/scripts/deploy-rust-remote.sh
+++ b/scripts/deploy-rust-remote.sh
@@ -278,6 +278,7 @@ fi
 
 TARGET_DIR="${BUILD_ROOT}/${BUILD_NAME}"
 WEB_DIR="${TARGET_DIR}/web"
+ROOT_DIR_PLACEHOLDER="__GENARRATIVE_EMPTY_SPACETIME_ROOT_DIR__"
 API_BINARY_SOURCE="${SERVER_RS_DIR}/target/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/release/api-server"
 WASM_SOURCE="${SERVER_RS_DIR}/target/wasm32-unknown-unknown/release/spacetime_module.wasm"
 
@@ -483,6 +484,13 @@ server.listen(webPort, webHost, () => {
 });
 WEB_SERVER
 
+touch "${TARGET_DIR}/.env"
+for env_file in "${TARGET_DIR}/.env" "${TARGET_DIR}/.env.local"; do
+  if [[ -f "${env_file}" ]] && ! grep -q '^GENARRATIVE_SPACETIME_ROOT_DIR=' "${env_file}"; then
+    printf '\nGENARRATIVE_SPACETIME_ROOT_DIR=%s\n' "${ROOT_DIR_PLACEHOLDER}" >>"${env_file}"
+  fi
+done
+
 cat >"${TARGET_DIR}/start.sh" <<'START_SCRIPT'
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
@@ -875,6 +883,8 @@ replace_placeholder_in_file "${TARGET_DIR}/start.sh" "__GENARRATIVE_DEFAULT_API_
 replace_placeholder_in_file "${TARGET_DIR}/start.sh" "__GENARRATIVE_DEFAULT_API_PORT__" "${API_PORT}"
 replace_placeholder_in_file "${TARGET_DIR}/start.sh" "__GENARRATIVE_DEFAULT_WEB_HOST__" "${WEB_HOST}"
 replace_placeholder_in_file "${TARGET_DIR}/start.sh" "__GENARRATIVE_DEFAULT_WEB_PORT__" "${WEB_PORT}"
+replace_placeholder_in_file "${TARGET_DIR}/.env" "${ROOT_DIR_PLACEHOLDER}" "${TARGET_DIR}/.spacetimedb"
+replace_placeholder_in_file "${TARGET_DIR}/.env.local" "${ROOT_DIR_PLACEHOLDER}" "${TARGET_DIR}/.spacetimedb"
 
 cat >"${TARGET_DIR}/stop.sh" <<'STOP_SCRIPT'
 #!/usr/bin/env bash