diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 451b4f7..0a24c2b 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 PB_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@example.com
 PB_ADMIN_PASSWORD=secret-password
-PB_URL=http://pocketbase:8080
\ No newline at end of file
+PB_URL=http://pocketbase:8080
+PB_DATA_DIR=/pb/pb_data
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/docker-entrypoint.sh b/api/docker-entrypoint.sh
index d9d7f04..d12a826 100644
--- a/api/docker-entrypoint.sh
+++ b/api/docker-entrypoint.sh
@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ set -e
 
 # if there are no users yet, create the superuser
 # we check the sqlite file for any existing record in the users table
-if ! sqlite3 "/pb/pb_data/data.db" \
-       "SELECT id FROM users WHERE email='${PB_ADMIN_EMAIL}' LIMIT 1;" \
+if [ ! -f "${PB_DATA_DIR}/pb_data.db" ] \
+      ! sqlite3 "${PB_DATA_DIR}/data.db" \
+       "SELECT id FROM _superusers WHERE email='${PB_ADMIN_EMAIL}' LIMIT 1;" \
        | grep -q .; then
 
   echo ">>> Creating PocketBase superuser: ${PB_ADMIN_EMAIL}"