diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index d0edb12..4557baf 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ WORKDIR /app
 
 # App code
 COPY . .
-COPY example.env .env
 
 # Install deps (only main/runtime deps)
 RUN poetry install --no-interaction --no-ansi --only main
diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index 2be67bf..7a836d8 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 global-include *.yaml
+global-include *.env
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4d48944..59b2651 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -50,11 +50,7 @@ Then run the following command to get up and running:
 poetry lock && poetry install --all-extras
 ```
 
-Once you have that, get a baseline `.env` and run the API:
-
-```shell
-cp example.env .env
-```
+Once you have that run the API:
 
 ```shell
 poetry run python3 icoapi/api.py
@@ -75,13 +71,7 @@ INSTALL_DIR="/etc/icoapi"
 SERVICE_PATH="/etc/systemd/system"
 ```
 
-Please note that the install script expects that the root folder of the repository contains an `.env` configuration file. You can use `example.env` as starting point:
-
-```sh
-cp example.env .env
-```
-
-After you created the configuration file, run the script to install normally:
+Run the script to install normally:
 
 ```sh
 ./install.sh
diff --git a/example.env b/icoapi/config/default.env
similarity index 100%
rename from example.env
rename to icoapi/config/default.env
diff --git a/icoapi/scripts/file_handling.py b/icoapi/scripts/file_handling.py
index 5013a45..47c33bf 100644
--- a/icoapi/scripts/file_handling.py
+++ b/icoapi/scripts/file_handling.py
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 from typing import Tuple
 import shutil
 import re
+from importlib.resources import files
+
 
 from dotenv import load_dotenv
 from platformdirs import user_data_dir
@@ -26,6 +28,11 @@ def load_env_file():
         bundle_dir = sys._MEIPASS
         logger.warning(f"Environment variables not found in local directory. Trying to load from app data: {bundle_dir}")
         env_loaded = load_dotenv(os.path.join(bundle_dir, "config", ".env"), verbose=True)
+    if not env_loaded:
+        # Fourth try: load default configuration from package data
+        package_data = files('icoapi').joinpath("config")
+        logger.warning(f"Environment variables not found in app data. Trying to load from package data: %s", package_data)
+        env_loaded = load_dotenv(stream=(package_data.joinpath("default.env").open('r', encoding='utf-8')))
     if not env_loaded:
         logger.critical(f"Environment variables not found")
         raise EnvironmentError(".env not found")
diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index fcda584..3bd1f3c 100755
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ sudo mkdir -p $INSTALL_DIR
 sudo chown $USER:$USER $INSTALL_DIR
 
 echo "Copying application files..."
-FILES_AND_DIRS=("config" "$MODULE_NAME" "pyproject.toml" "README.md")
+FILES_AND_DIRS=("$MODULE_NAME" "pyproject.toml" "README.md")
 
 for ITEM in "${FILES_AND_DIRS[@]}"; do
   #cp -r "$ITEM" "$INSTALL_DIR"