diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 808d192..42e2a59 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -40,9 +40,8 @@ What the [upaas](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/upaas) app for pixa needs:
 
 - **Port:** pixa listens on container port `8080`.
 - **Volume:** container path `/var/lib/pixa`, where pixa keeps its
-  database and cache. upaas bind-mounts the host path it is given and
-  does not create it, so the host directory must exist before the first
-  deploy.
+  database and cache. Creating the host directory when it is missing is
+  upaas's job, tracked in https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/upaas/issues/235.
 - **Environment variables:**
     - `PIXA_SIGNING_KEY` (required): secret for signed and encrypted URLs
       and login, 32+ characters, for example from
@@ -58,10 +57,6 @@ What the [upaas](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/upaas) app for pixa needs:
   `healthy`. The probe uses the port from `PORT` (default `8080`), so a
   port changed only in a mounted config file is not seen by it: change
   the port with `PORT`.
-- **First run:** create the host directory, owned by root or by uid
-  `65532` and gid `65532`. The server runs as the container's `pixad`
-  user, which has that uid and gid, and the container gives the
-  directory to `pixad` when it starts.
 
 ## Rationale
 
diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index 4674052..cd53d43 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -29,6 +29,13 @@ P2: security: referer blacklist
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-09-29 the container makes `/var/lib/pixa` usable by itself (closes
+  #159): `deploy/docker-entrypoint.sh` creates the directory if it is missing,
+  gives the directory and everything in it to `pixad` when the directory or one
+  of its top-level entries belongs to another user or group, sets its mode to
+  `750`, then runs the server as `pixad`; data left by an earlier run under
+  another uid is taken over this way; "Running under upaas" in `README.md` no
+  longer tells the operator to create or chown the host directory.
 - 2026-09-29 maintenance mode refuses image requests (closes #71): while
   `maintenance_mode` is on, `/v1/image/` and `/v1/e/` answer 503 with a
   `Retry-After` header and the JSON error body, from one middleware in
diff --git a/deploy/docker-entrypoint.sh b/deploy/docker-entrypoint.sh
index 691ff2f..abb3f16 100755
--- a/deploy/docker-entrypoint.sh
+++ b/deploy/docker-entrypoint.sh
@@ -1,14 +1,22 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 # deploy/docker-entrypoint.sh: the Docker image's ENTRYPOINT. It runs as
-# root only to give /var/lib/pixa to pixad: a host directory
-# bind-mounted there keeps its host owner, often root, and pixad could
-# not write to it. The server itself always runs as pixad.
+# root only to make /var/lib/pixa usable by pixad: a host directory
+# bind-mounted there keeps its host owner, often root, and data from an
+# earlier run may belong to another uid. The server itself always runs
+# as pixad.
 set -eu
 
 main() {
-    if [ "$(stat -c %U /var/lib/pixa)" != pixad ]; then
-        chown pixad:pixad /var/lib/pixa
+    mkdir -p /var/lib/pixa
+    # Only the directory and its top-level entries are checked, so a
+    # normal start does not walk the cache. -depth gives each directory
+    # to pixad after its contents, so a start stopped part way leaves
+    # something at the top for the next start to find; -h changes a
+    # symlink itself, never the file it points to.
+    if [ -n "$(find /var/lib/pixa -maxdepth 1 \( ! -user pixad -o ! -group pixad \))" ]; then
+        find /var/lib/pixa -depth -exec chown -h pixad:pixad {} +
     fi
+    chmod 750 /var/lib/pixa
     exec su-exec pixad /usr/local/bin/pixad "$@"
 }