diff --git a/packaging/freebsd/clawdie.in b/packaging/freebsd/clawdie.in
index 375fc3c..f40abb5 100644
--- a/packaging/freebsd/clawdie.in
+++ b/packaging/freebsd/clawdie.in
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ load_rc_config $name
 : ${clawdie_data_dir:="/var/db/clawdie"}
 : ${clawdie_run_dir:="/var/run/clawdie"}
 : ${clawdie_socket:="${clawdie_run_dir}/clawdie.sock"}
+: ${clawdie_db_path:="${clawdie_data_dir}/clawdie.sqlite"}
 : ${clawdie_logfile:="/var/log/clawdie/clawdie.log"}
 : ${clawdie_host:="$(/bin/hostname)"}
 : ${clawdie_env_file:="/usr/local/etc/clawdie/clawdie.env"}
@@ -68,8 +69,13 @@ clawdie_prestart()
         "$(/usr/bin/dirname "${clawdie_logfile}")"
 
     # Control-plane config passed to the child via the environment.
+    # COLIBRI_DB_PATH is REQUIRED: without it the daemon falls back to
+    # /var/db/colibri/colibri.sqlite (the full Colibri daemon's path, owned by
+    # the colibri user), which the clawdie user cannot open — Store::open then
+    # panics and daemon(8) -r restart-loops. Keep clawdie's DB in its own dir.
     export COLIBRI_DAEMON_DATA_DIR="${clawdie_data_dir}"
     export COLIBRI_DAEMON_SOCKET="${clawdie_socket}"
+    export COLIBRI_DB_PATH="${clawdie_db_path}"
     export COLIBRI_HOST="${clawdie_host}"
 
     # Optional per-host credential overrides (binary already has baked defaults).