diff --git a/packages/nemo_platform_plugin/src/nemo_platform_plugin/files/storage_config.py b/packages/nemo_platform_plugin/src/nemo_platform_plugin/files/storage_config.py
index 51aa44afe1..8a9601a3b3 100644
--- a/packages/nemo_platform_plugin/src/nemo_platform_plugin/files/storage_config.py
+++ b/packages/nemo_platform_plugin/src/nemo_platform_plugin/files/storage_config.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
     Self,
 )
 
+from nemo_platform_plugin.config import nmp_user_data_dir
 from nemo_platform_plugin.schema import SecretRef
 from pydantic import BaseModel, Field, field_validator, model_validator
 
@@ -91,7 +92,16 @@ def make_path_relative_to_program(cls, v: str) -> str:
         This allows the config to pass in absolute paths, ``~``-prefixed
         paths (expanded against the running user's home dir), or relative
         paths like ``./files_storage`` (joined against cwd).
+
+        An **empty** path means the platform's user-data directory, so blobs follow
+        ``NMP_DATA_DIR`` alongside the entity-store database.
+
+        Resolved here rather than as a field default because a machine-dependent default is
+        rendered into the committed config reference — the same reason the SQLite path is
+        computed in ``get_database_url``.
         """
+        if not v:
+            return str(nmp_user_data_dir() / "files")
         return str(Path.cwd() / Path(v).expanduser())
 
     @property
diff --git a/packages/nemo_platform_plugin/tests/files/test_storage_config_path.py b/packages/nemo_platform_plugin/tests/files/test_storage_config_path.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..439cdb89bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/nemo_platform_plugin/tests/files/test_storage_config_path.py
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+"""How a local storage path is resolved, and which state it keeps together.
+
+Regression: ``NMP_DATA_DIR`` relocates the entity-store database, but the bundled local
+configurations pinned the literal blob location, so a run with it set produced a *half*
+isolated instance — database in the chosen directory, blobs in the default one. That is worse
+than an un-isolated instance: it looks isolated, and wiping the chosen directory silently
+leaves the blobs behind.
+"""
+
+import pytest
+from nemo_platform_plugin.files.storage_config import LocalStorageConfig
+
+
+def test_an_empty_path_follows_the_platform_data_dir(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch, tmp_path) -> None:
+    """The fix: blobs land under the chosen data directory, beside the entity-store database."""
+    monkeypatch.setenv("NMP_DATA_DIR", str(tmp_path))
+    assert LocalStorageConfig(path="").path == str(tmp_path / "files")
+
+
+def test_an_empty_path_without_a_data_dir_keeps_the_previous_location(
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+) -> None:
+    """The value the bundled configs used to hard-code. Anyone who has not opted into a data
+    directory must see no change at all."""
+    monkeypatch.delenv("NMP_DATA_DIR", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.setenv("HOME", "/home/someone")
+    monkeypatch.delenv("XDG_DATA_HOME", raising=False)
+    assert LocalStorageConfig(path="").path == "/home/someone/.local/share/nemo/files"
+
+
+def test_an_explicit_path_is_never_overridden(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch, tmp_path) -> None:
+    """The container image, the Helm chart and the agentic runners all set this explicitly."""
+    monkeypatch.setenv("NMP_DATA_DIR", str(tmp_path))
+    assert LocalStorageConfig(path="/data/files_storage").path == "/data/files_storage"
+
+
+def test_home_relative_paths_still_expand(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
+    """Only the empty path gains meaning; every other form resolves exactly as before."""
+    monkeypatch.setenv("HOME", "/home/someone")
+    assert LocalStorageConfig(path="~/blobs").path == "/home/someone/blobs"
+
+
+def test_the_data_dir_is_read_per_construction(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch, tmp_path) -> None:
+    """Resolution happens in the validator, not as a field default, so it tracks the
+    environment at construction — and, just as importantly, keeps a machine-dependent path out
+    of the field default that generates the committed config reference."""
+    monkeypatch.setenv("NMP_DATA_DIR", str(tmp_path / "one"))
+    assert LocalStorageConfig(path="").path == str(tmp_path / "one" / "files")
+    monkeypatch.setenv("NMP_DATA_DIR", str(tmp_path / "two"))
+    assert LocalStorageConfig(path="").path == str(tmp_path / "two" / "files")
diff --git a/packages/nmp_platform/config/local.yaml b/packages/nmp_platform/config/local.yaml
index 364abe4103..8caa44d0fe 100644
--- a/packages/nmp_platform/config/local.yaml
+++ b/packages/nmp_platform/config/local.yaml
@@ -178,7 +178,9 @@ secrets:
 files:
   default_storage_config:
     type: local
-    path: ~/.local/share/nemo/files
+    # Empty means the platform user-data directory, so blobs follow NMP_DATA_DIR
+    # alongside the entity-store database.
+    path: ""
 
 studio:
   static_files_path: web/packages/studio/dist
diff --git a/packages/nmp_platform_runner/src/nmp/platform_runner/config/local.yaml b/packages/nmp_platform_runner/src/nmp/platform_runner/config/local.yaml
index 1e22469627..92929d60a6 100644
--- a/packages/nmp_platform_runner/src/nmp/platform_runner/config/local.yaml
+++ b/packages/nmp_platform_runner/src/nmp/platform_runner/config/local.yaml
@@ -90,4 +90,6 @@ secrets:
 files:
   default_storage_config:
     type: local
-    path: ~/.local/share/nemo/files
+    # Empty means the platform user-data directory, so blobs follow NMP_DATA_DIR
+    # alongside the entity-store database.
+    path: ""