diff --git a/deploy/docker-compose.yml b/deploy/docker-compose.yml
index 4e81f73..a5557fa 100644
--- a/deploy/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/deploy/docker-compose.yml
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ services:
       # alembic concurrently.
       RUN_MIGRATIONS: "1"
       DATABASE_URL: ${DATABASE_URL:-postgresql+asyncpg://provenance:provenance@postgres:5432/provenance}
+      # Instance owner/operator — the account(s) with instance-admin rights.
+      OWNER_EMAIL: ${OWNER_EMAIL:-}
       S3_ENDPOINT_URL: ${S3_ENDPOINT_URL:-http://minio:9000}
       S3_BUCKET: ${S3_BUCKET:-provenance}
       S3_ACCESS_KEY: ${S3_ACCESS_KEY:-provenance}