diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 0cffb77..816abb4 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -1,14 +1,21 @@
 # Copy this file to `.env` and customize the paths to match your environment.
 # Relative paths are resolved from the repository root when running locally.
+# Each `*_DIR` value below points to a directory on the host. Docker Compose
+# mounts it into the container at the standard path noted in the comment.
 
+# Host directory that stores JSON settings. Mounted to /config in Docker.
 ABOGEN_SETTINGS_DIR=./config
+
+# Host directory for rendered audio/subtitle files. Mounted to /data/outputs
+# in Docker.
 ABOGEN_OUTPUT_DIR=./storage/output
 
 # Temporary working directory. When running in Docker, keep this inside the
-# mounted /data volume so non-root users can write to it. For local (non-Docker)
-# usage, change this to a path that makes sense on your machine or comment it out
-# to fall back to the OS cache directory.
-ABOGEN_TEMP_DIR=/data/cache
+# mounted data volume (or another writable host path) so non-root users can
+# write to it. For local (non-Docker) usage, change this to a path that makes
+# sense on your machine or comment it out to fall back to the OS cache
+# directory. Mounted to /data/cache in Docker.
+ABOGEN_TEMP_DIR=./storage/tmp
 
 # UID/GID used when running the Docker container. 1000:1000 matches most Linux hosts.
 # Find your current values with:
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ace3d4b..3fdd8f2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -49,12 +49,12 @@ Browse to http://localhost:8808. Uploaded source files are stored in `/data/uplo
 | `ABOGEN_PORT` | `8808` | HTTP port |
 | `ABOGEN_DEBUG` | `false` | Enable Flask debug mode |
 | `ABOGEN_UPLOAD_ROOT` | `/data/uploads` | Directory where uploaded files are stored |
-| `ABOGEN_OUTPUT_ROOT` | `/data/outputs` | Directory for generated audio and subtitles |
+| `ABOGEN_OUTPUT_ROOT` | `/data/outputs` | Directory for generated audio and subtitles (legacy alias of `ABOGEN_OUTPUT_DIR`) |
+| `ABOGEN_OUTPUT_DIR` | `/data/outputs` | Container path for rendered audio/subtitles |
+| `ABOGEN_SETTINGS_DIR` | `/config` | Container path for JSON settings/configuration |
+| `ABOGEN_TEMP_DIR` | `/data/cache` (Docker) or platform cache dir | Container path for temporary files |
 | `ABOGEN_UID` | `1000` | UID that the container should run as (matches host user) |
 | `ABOGEN_GID` | `1000` | GID that the container should run as (matches host group) |
-| `ABOGEN_TEMP_DIR` | `/data/cache` (Docker) or platform cache dir | Override the cache/temp directory |
-| `ABOGEN_OUTPUT_DIR` | Same as `ABOGEN_OUTPUT_ROOT` | Override the rendered output directory |
-| `ABOGEN_SETTINGS_DIR` | Platform config dir (e.g. `~/.config/abogen`) | Override where JSON settings (profiles, config) are stored |
 
 Set any of these with `-e VAR=value` when starting the container.
 
@@ -67,9 +67,12 @@ id -g
 
 Use those values to populate `ABOGEN_UID` / `ABOGEN_GID` in your `.env` file.
 
-When running via Docker Compose, the container defaults to `/data/cache` for
-temporary files. Make sure the corresponding host directory is writable (the
-compose volume at `${ABOGEN_DATA:-./data}` will automatically satisfy this).
+When running via Docker Compose, set `ABOGEN_SETTINGS_DIR`,
+`ABOGEN_OUTPUT_DIR`, and `ABOGEN_TEMP_DIR` in your `.env` file to the host
+directories you want mounted into the container. Compose maps them to
+`/config`, `/data/outputs`, and `/data/cache` respectively while exporting
+those in-container paths to the application. Ensure each host directory exists
+and is writable by the UID/GID you configure before starting the stack.
 
 ### Docker Compose (GPU by default)
 The repo includes `docker-compose.yaml`, which targets GPU hosts out of the box. Install the NVIDIA Container Toolkit and run:
diff --git a/abogen/utils.py b/abogen/utils.py
index 257c535..1d004dd 100644
--- a/abogen/utils.py
+++ b/abogen/utils.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import json
+import logging
 import os
 import platform
 import re
@@ -142,14 +143,47 @@ def get_user_config_path():
 # Define cache path
 @lru_cache(maxsize=1)
 def get_user_cache_root():
+    logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+    def _try_paths(*paths):
+        last_error = None
+        for candidate in paths:
+            if not candidate:
+                continue
+            try:
+                return ensure_directory(candidate)
+            except OSError as exc:
+                last_error = exc
+                logger.debug("Unable to use cache directory %s: %s", candidate, exc)
+        if last_error is not None:
+            raise last_error
+
     override = os.environ.get("ABOGEN_TEMP_DIR")
     if override:
-        return ensure_directory(override)
+        try:
+            return ensure_directory(override)
+        except OSError as exc:
+            logger.warning("ABOGEN_TEMP_DIR=%s is not writable: %s", override, exc)
 
     from platformdirs import user_cache_dir
 
-    cache_dir = user_cache_dir("abogen", appauthor=False, opinion=True, ensure_exists=True)
-    return ensure_directory(cache_dir)
+    default_cache = user_cache_dir("abogen", appauthor=False, opinion=True)
+
+    data_root = os.environ.get("ABOGEN_DATA") or os.environ.get("ABOGEN_DATA_DIR")
+    fallback_paths = [
+        default_cache,
+        os.path.join(data_root, "cache") if data_root else None,
+        "/data/cache",
+        "/tmp/abogen-cache",
+    ]
+
+    try:
+        return _try_paths(*fallback_paths)
+    except OSError:
+        # Final safety net – attempt a tmp directory unique to this process.
+        tmp_candidate = os.path.join("/tmp", f"abogen-cache-{os.getpid()}")
+        logger.warning("Falling back to temp cache directory %s", tmp_candidate)
+        return ensure_directory(tmp_candidate)
 
 
 def get_user_cache_path(folder=None):
diff --git a/docker-compose.yaml b/docker-compose.yaml
index 4d9c882..828029e 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -12,12 +12,17 @@ services:
       - "${ABOGEN_PORT:-8808}:8808"
     volumes:
       - ${ABOGEN_DATA:-./data}:/data
+      - ${ABOGEN_SETTINGS_DIR:-./config}:/config
+      - ${ABOGEN_OUTPUT_DIR:-./storage/output}:/data/outputs
+      - ${ABOGEN_TEMP_DIR:-./storage/tmp}:/data/cache
     environment:
       ABOGEN_HOST: 0.0.0.0
       ABOGEN_PORT: 8808
+      ABOGEN_SETTINGS_DIR: "/config"
       ABOGEN_UPLOAD_ROOT: /data/uploads
-      ABOGEN_OUTPUT_ROOT: /data/outputs
-      ABOGEN_TEMP_DIR: "${ABOGEN_TEMP_DIR:-/data/cache}"
+      ABOGEN_OUTPUT_DIR: "/data/outputs"
+      ABOGEN_OUTPUT_ROOT: "/data/outputs"
+      ABOGEN_TEMP_DIR: "/data/cache"
     # --- GPU support -----------------------------------------------------
     # These settings assume the NVIDIA Container Toolkit is installed.
     # Leave them in place for GPU acceleration; comment out the entire block