diff --git a/backend/Dockerfile b/backend/Dockerfile
index f25ee81..dd60c38 100644
--- a/backend/Dockerfile
+++ b/backend/Dockerfile
@@ -10,9 +10,6 @@ RUN uv sync --frozen --no-dev
 
 COPY . .
 
-# Make the temp log dir writable since server is running rootless
-RUN mkdir -p /app/logs && chmod -R 777 /app/logs
-
 EXPOSE 8000
 
 CMD ["sh", "-c", "uv run manage.py migrate && uv run gunicorn --bind 0.0.0.0:8000 --access-logfile - --error-logfile - --capture-output --log-level debug config.wsgi:application"]
diff --git a/backend/config/logging.py b/backend/config/logging.py
index 6349337..0855485 100644
--- a/backend/config/logging.py
+++ b/backend/config/logging.py
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+
 import structlog
 
+BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+LOGS_DIR = BASE_DIR / "logs"
+
+LOGS_DIR.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
 structlog.configure(
     processors=[
         structlog.contextvars.merge_contextvars,
@@ -41,22 +48,22 @@ LOGGING = {
         },
         "json_file": {
             "class": "logging.handlers.WatchedFileHandler",
-            "filename": "logs/json.log",
+            "filename": LOGS_DIR / "json.log",
             "formatter": "json_formatter",
         },
         "flat_line_file": {
             "class": "logging.handlers.WatchedFileHandler",
-            "filename": "logs/flat_line.log",
+            "filename": LOGS_DIR / "flat_line.log",
             "formatter": "key_value",
         },
         "letters_log": {
             "class": "logging.handlers.WatchedFileHandler",
-            "filename": "logs/letters.log",
+            "filename": LOGS_DIR / "letters.log",
             "formatter": "key_value",
         },
         "scheduler_log": {
             "class": "logging.handlers.WatchedFileHandler",
-            "filename": "logs/scheduler.log",
+            "filename": LOGS_DIR / "scheduler.log",
             "formatter": "key_value",
         },
     },