diff --git a/jump-box/startup.bash b/jump-box/startup.bash
index 6a9bc3b..7de33d5 100644
--- a/jump-box/startup.bash
+++ b/jump-box/startup.bash
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@
 
 echo "Setting up target user ${TARGET_USER} (uid=${TARGET_UID}, gid=${TARGET_GID})..."
 groupadd --gid "$TARGET_GID" "$TARGET_USER"
-adduser --gid "$TARGET_GID" --uid "$TARGET_UID" "$TARGET_USER"
+
+# --no-create-home since we assume the home dir will be mounted in the container
+adduser --gid "$TARGET_GID" --uid "$TARGET_UID" --no-create-home "$TARGET_USER"
 chown "$TARGET_USER":"$TARGET_USER" /var/log/container-stdout.log
 
 echo "Ready."