diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 42387f681..65c31dd0d 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -53,9 +53,6 @@ ENV OPENVPN_USERNAME=**None** \
     TRANSMISSION_RPC_PORT=9091 \
     TRANSMISSION_RPC_USERNAME= \
     TRANSMISSION_RPC_PASSWORD= \
-    TRANSMISSION_DOWNLOAD_DIR=/data/completed \
-    TRANSMISSION_INCOMPLETE_DIR=/data/incomplete \
-    TRANSMISSION_WATCH_DIR=/data/watch \
     CREATE_TUN_DEVICE=true \
     ENABLE_UFW=false \
     UFW_ALLOW_GW_NET=false \
diff --git a/transmission/start.sh b/transmission/start.sh
index a8292a7f6..0aefe0aac 100755
--- a/transmission/start.sh
+++ b/transmission/start.sh
@@ -71,13 +71,13 @@ case ${TRANSMISSION_LOG_LEVEL,,} in
     ;;
 esac
 
-. /etc/transmission/userSetup.sh
-
 echo "Updating Transmission settings.json with values from env variables"
 # Ensure TRANSMISSION_HOME is created
 mkdir -p ${TRANSMISSION_HOME}
 python3 /etc/transmission/updateSettings.py /etc/transmission/default-settings.json ${TRANSMISSION_HOME}/settings.json || exit 1
 
+. /etc/transmission/userSetup.sh
+
 echo "sed'ing True to true"
 sed -i 's/True/true/g' ${TRANSMISSION_HOME}/settings.json
 
diff --git a/transmission/userSetup.sh b/transmission/userSetup.sh
index b05a3d0e3..28ec8b343 100644
--- a/transmission/userSetup.sh
+++ b/transmission/userSetup.sh
@@ -18,6 +18,13 @@ if [ -n "$PUID" ] && [ ! "$(id -u root)" -eq "$PUID" ]; then
       chown ${RUN_AS}:${RUN_AS} /dev/stdout
     fi
 
+    # fetch from settings.json if not defined in environment
+    for var_name in TRANSMISSION_DOWNLOAD_DIR TRANSMISSION_INCOMPLETE_DIR TRANSMISSION_WATCH_DIR TRANSMISSION_UMASK; do
+        if [[ ! -v $var_name ]]; then
+            setting_name=$(echo "${var_name#TRANSMISSION_}" | tr '[:upper:]_' '[:lower:]-')
+            declare "${var_name}=$(jq -r .\"${setting_name}\" ${TRANSMISSION_HOME}/settings.json)"
+        fi
+    done
 
     # Make sure directories exist before chown and chmod
     mkdir -p /config \
@@ -45,12 +52,6 @@ if [ -n "$PUID" ] && [ ! "$(id -u root)" -eq "$PUID" ]; then
 
         echo "Setting permissions for download and incomplete directories"
         
-        if [ -z "$TRANSMISSION_UMASK" ] ; then
-            # fetch from settings.json if not defined in environment
-            # because updateSettings.py is called after this script is run
-            TRANSMISSION_UMASK=$(jq .umask ${TRANSMISSION_HOME}/settings.json | tr -d \" )
-        fi
-
         TRANSMISSION_UMASK_OCTAL=$( printf "%o\n" "${TRANSMISSION_UMASK}" )
 
         DIR_PERMS=$( printf '%o\n' $(( 8#777 & ~TRANSMISSION_UMASK)) )