diff --git a/config/config.sample.php b/config/config.sample.php
index 873af8b037b..743d86b12fc 100644
--- a/config/config.sample.php
+++ b/config/config.sample.php
@@ -1768,6 +1768,15 @@ $CONFIG = [
  */
 'tempdirectory' => '/tmp/nextcloudtemp',
 
+/**
+ * Override where Nextcloud stores update files while updating. Useful in situations
+ * where the default `datadirectory` is on network disk like NFS, or is otherwise
+ * restricted. Defaults to the value of `datadirectory` if unset.
+ *
+ * The Web server user must have write access to this directory.
+ */
+'updatedirectory' => '',
+
 /**
  * Hashing
  */
diff --git a/lib/private/Repair/MoveUpdaterStepFile.php b/lib/private/Repair/MoveUpdaterStepFile.php
index bc7430d7a7f..020510804d7 100644
--- a/lib/private/Repair/MoveUpdaterStepFile.php
+++ b/lib/private/Repair/MoveUpdaterStepFile.php
@@ -43,14 +43,14 @@ class MoveUpdaterStepFile implements IRepairStep {
 	}
 
 	public function run(IOutput $output) {
-		$dataDir = $this->config->getSystemValue('datadirectory', \OC::$SERVERROOT . '/data');
+		$updateDir = $this->config->getSystemValue('updatedirectory') ?? $this->config->getSystemValue('datadirectory', \OC::$SERVERROOT . '/data');
 		$instanceId = $this->config->getSystemValue('instanceid', null);
 
 		if (!is_string($instanceId) || empty($instanceId)) {
 			return;
 		}
 
-		$updaterFolderPath = $dataDir . '/updater-' . $instanceId;
+		$updaterFolderPath = $updateDir . '/updater-' . $instanceId;
 		$stepFile = $updaterFolderPath . '/.step';
 		if (file_exists($stepFile)) {
 			$output->info('.step file exists');