diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index ce778bf..ba56666 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -24,7 +24,11 @@ SESSION_EXPIRY_DAYS=30
 
 # Admin dashboard password (bcrypt hash).
 # Generate with: htpasswd -bnBC 12 "" yourpassword | tr -d ':\n'
-ADMIN_PASSWORD_HASH=$2y$12$placeholder_replace_me
+# IMPORTANT: keep the SINGLE QUOTES. A bcrypt hash is full of `$` (e.g. $2b$12$…$…),
+# and both Docker Compose's env_file interpolation and dotenvy's variable substitution
+# would otherwise eat the `$…` segments (reading them as unset vars) and corrupt the
+# hash — every admin login then 401s. Single quotes make both read it literally.
+ADMIN_PASSWORD_HASH='$2y$12$placeholder_replace_me'
 
 # ── Event ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 EVENT_NAME=Max & Maria's Wedding
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 6baec40..8cb810a 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -29,6 +29,12 @@ services:
       # Activates the production secret guard in config.rs — refuses to boot with
       # placeholder JWT_SECRET / ADMIN_PASSWORD_HASH.
       APP_ENV: production
+      # The media volume is mounted at /media (below), so the app MUST write there.
+      # Pin it here rather than trusting .env: if MEDIA_PATH in .env points elsewhere
+      # (e.g. a host path used for running the backend natively) the container can't
+      # create it and every upload 500s with EACCES. `environment` overrides `env_file`,
+      # so this is authoritative for the container.
+      MEDIA_PATH: /media
     depends_on:
       db:
         condition: service_healthy