diff --git a/bookwyrm/settings.py b/bookwyrm/settings.py
index 0e293676b..23b442ad0 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/settings.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/settings.py
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ LOCALE_PATHS = [
 ]
 LANGUAGE_COOKIE_NAME = env.str("LANGUAGE_COOKIE_NAME", "django_language")
 
-STATIC_ROOT = env("STATIC_ROOT_ABS")
+STATIC_ROOT = env("STATIC_ROOT_ABS", os.path.join(BASE_DIR, env("STATIC_ROOT", "static")))
 MEDIA_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, env("MEDIA_ROOT", "images"))
 
 DEFAULT_AUTO_FIELD = "django.db.models.AutoField"