diff --git a/apps/overlays/upc-dev/forte-drop-postgresql/resources/pg-backup-cronjob.yaml b/apps/overlays/upc-dev/forte-drop-postgresql/resources/pg-backup-cronjob.yaml
index 4304424..3ba3fef 100644
--- a/apps/overlays/upc-dev/forte-drop-postgresql/resources/pg-backup-cronjob.yaml
+++ b/apps/overlays/upc-dev/forte-drop-postgresql/resources/pg-backup-cronjob.yaml
@@ -77,6 +77,12 @@ spec:
               mc rm --recursive --force --older-than 30d "obj/${S3_BUCKET}/_pgbackups/" || true
               echo "backup retention pass complete"
             env:
+            # mc writes its config under $MC_CONFIG_DIR; point it at the shared
+            # emptyDir (writable by uid 65532 via fsGroup). Without this it tries
+            # to mkdir /.mc on the read-only-to-nonroot root fs -> "mkdir /.mc:
+            # permission denied" and every run fails before uploading.
+            - name: MC_CONFIG_DIR
+              value: "/work/.mc"
             - name: S3_ENDPOINT
               valueFrom:
                 secretKeyRef: { name: forte-drop-secrets, key: S3_ENDPOINT }