diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 8541464..5f67d5d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 deploy
+zot-data/
diff --git a/docker-compose.yaml b/docker-compose.yaml
index ed6312a..5d75918 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -23,6 +23,10 @@ services:
       - "127.0.0.1:5000:5000"
     volumes:
       - ./zot-config.json:/etc/zot/config.json:ro
+      # Registry blobs live on the host, not in the container layer. Docker
+      # creates this directory on first start; zot runs as root so no chown
+      # dance is needed. Path matches storage.rootDirectory in zot-config.json.
+      - ./zot-data:/var/lib/zot
     networks:
       - ttlsh-network