diff --git a/ct/wger.sh b/ct/wger.sh
index 4da90279d..ddfbf3e2c 100644
--- a/ct/wger.sh
+++ b/ct/wger.sh
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ function update_script() {
     msg_info "Backing up Data"
     cp -r /opt/wger/db /opt/wger_db_backup
     cp -r /opt/wger/media /opt/wger_media_backup
-    cp -r /opt/wger/settings /opt/wger_settings_backup
+    cp /opt/wger/.env /opt/wger_env_backup
     msg_ok "Backed up Data"
 
     CLEAN_INSTALL=1 fetch_and_deploy_gh_release "wger" "wger-project/wger" "tarball" "latest" "/opt/wger"
@@ -45,15 +45,16 @@ function update_script() {
     msg_info "Restoring Data"
     cp -r /opt/wger_db_backup/. /opt/wger/db
     cp -r /opt/wger_media_backup/. /opt/wger/media
-    cp -r /opt/wger_settings_backup/. /opt/wger/settings
-    rm -rf /opt/wger_db_backup /opt/wger_media_backup /opt/wger_settings_backup
+    cp /opt/wger_env_backup /opt/wger/.env
+    rm -rf /opt/wger_db_backup /opt/wger_media_backup /opt/wger_env_backup
     msg_ok "Restored Data"
 
     msg_info "Updating wger"
     cd /opt/wger
-    $STD uv pip install .
+    source /opt/wger/.env
     export DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=settings.main
-    export PYTHONPATH=/opt/wger
+    export DJANGO_DB_DATABASE DJANGO_MEDIA_ROOT DJANGO_STATIC_ROOT SECRET_KEY
+    $STD uv pip install .
     $STD uv run python manage.py migrate
     $STD uv run python manage.py collectstatic --no-input
     msg_ok "Updated wger"
diff --git a/install/wger-install.sh b/install/wger-install.sh
index eff990e60..dfd0f689f 100644
--- a/install/wger-install.sh
+++ b/install/wger-install.sh
@@ -33,23 +33,18 @@ chmod o+w /opt/wger/media
 cd /opt/wger
 $STD uv venv
 $STD uv pip install .
-mkdir -p /opt/wger/settings
-cat <<EOF >/opt/wger/settings/main.py
-from wger.settings_global import *
-
-DATABASES = {
-    'default': {
-        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
-        'NAME': '/opt/wger/db/database.sqlite',
-    }
-}
-
-MEDIA_ROOT = '/opt/wger/media'
-STATIC_ROOT = '/opt/wger/static'
+SECRET_KEY=$(openssl rand -base64 40)
+cat <<EOF >/opt/wger/.env
+DJANGO_DB_DATABASE=/opt/wger/db/database.sqlite
+DJANGO_MEDIA_ROOT=/opt/wger/media
+DJANGO_STATIC_ROOT=/opt/wger/static
+SECRET_KEY=${SECRET_KEY}
 EOF
-touch /opt/wger/settings/__init__.py
 export DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=settings.main
-export PYTHONPATH=/opt/wger
+export DJANGO_DB_DATABASE=/opt/wger/db/database.sqlite
+export DJANGO_MEDIA_ROOT=/opt/wger/media
+export DJANGO_STATIC_ROOT=/opt/wger/static
+export SECRET_KEY="${SECRET_KEY}"
 $STD uv run python manage.py migrate
 $STD uv run python manage.py collectstatic --no-input
 msg_ok "Set up wger"
@@ -69,7 +64,10 @@ cat <<EOF >/etc/apache2/sites-available/wger.conf
     WSGIScriptAlias / /opt/wger/wger/wsgi.py
     WSGIPassAuthorization On
     SetEnv DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE settings.main
-    SetEnv PYTHONPATH /opt/wger
+    SetEnv DJANGO_DB_DATABASE /opt/wger/db/database.sqlite
+    SetEnv DJANGO_MEDIA_ROOT /opt/wger/media
+    SetEnv DJANGO_STATIC_ROOT /opt/wger/static
+    SetEnv SECRET_KEY ${SECRET_KEY}
 
     Alias /static/ /opt/wger/static/
     <Directory /opt/wger/static>