diff --git a/data/documents/.keep b/data/media/documents/.keep
similarity index 100%
rename from data/documents/.keep
rename to data/media/documents/.keep
diff --git a/data/media/thumbnails/.keep b/data/media/thumbnails/.keep
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/src/paperless/settings.py b/src/paperless/settings.py
index 595bea7c0..4771bfc3c 100644
--- a/src/paperless/settings.py
+++ b/src/paperless/settings.py
@@ -39,9 +39,11 @@ def __get_boolean(key, default="NO"):
 
 DATA_DIR = os.getenv('PAPERLESS_DATA_DIR', os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "..", "data"))
 
+MEDIA_ROOT = os.getenv('PAPERLESS_DATA_DIR', os.path.join(DATA_DIR, "media"))
+
 INDEX_DIR = os.path.join(DATA_DIR, "index")
-ORIGINALS_DIR = os.path.join(DATA_DIR, "documents")
-THUMBNAIL_DIR = os.path.join(DATA_DIR, "thumbnails")
+ORIGINALS_DIR = os.path.join(MEDIA_ROOT, "documents")
+THUMBNAIL_DIR = os.path.join(MEDIA_ROOT, "thumbnails")
 MODEL_FILE = os.path.join(DATA_DIR, "classification_model.pickle")
 
 # Quick-start development settings - unsuitable for production