diff --git a/docker-compose.prod.yml b/docker-compose.prod.yml
index e56ac956..b4044014 100644
--- a/docker-compose.prod.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.prod.yml
@@ -26,6 +26,14 @@
 #   MAIL_HOST, MAIL_PORT,       SMTP relay (production only; staging uses mailpit)
 #   MAIL_USERNAME, MAIL_PASSWORD
 #   APP_MAIL_FROM               sender address (e.g. noreply@raddatz.cloud)
+#
+# Optional env vars:
+#   IMPORT_HOST_DIR             absolute host path holding the ODS spreadsheet
+#                               and PDFs for /admin/system mass import. Mounted
+#                               read-only at /import inside the backend.
+#                               Defaults to /srv/familienarchiv/import. When the
+#                               path is empty the import API simply reports
+#                               "no spreadsheet found" — no crash.
 
 networks:
   archiv-net:
@@ -173,6 +181,12 @@ services:
     # Bound to localhost only — Caddy fronts external traffic.
     ports:
       - "127.0.0.1:${PORT_BACKEND}:8080"
+    # Host path holding the ODS spreadsheet + PDFs for the mass-import endpoint.
+    # Read-only; MassImportService only reads (Files.list / Files.walk on /import).
+    # Outside the compose working dir on purpose — that dir is recreated per CI
+    # deploy. See IMPORT_HOST_DIR in the header for the env-var contract.
+    volumes:
+      - ${IMPORT_HOST_DIR:-/srv/familienarchiv/import}:/import:ro
     environment:
       SPRING_DATASOURCE_URL: jdbc:postgresql://db:5432/archiv
       SPRING_DATASOURCE_USERNAME: archiv