diff --git a/services/git-bridge/.dockerignore b/services/git-bridge/.dockerignore
index 06a66daedf..b400edabdd 100644
--- a/services/git-bridge/.dockerignore
+++ b/services/git-bridge/.dockerignore
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 *
 !start.sh
 !server-pro-start.sh
+!dev-env-start.sh
 !/conf
 !/lib
 !/src/main
diff --git a/services/git-bridge/Makefile b/services/git-bridge/Makefile
index a572c577ea..3e489866c5 100644
--- a/services/git-bridge/Makefile
+++ b/services/git-bridge/Makefile
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ runtime-conf:
 
 
 run: $(MVN_TARGET) runtime-conf
-	java $(GIT_BRIDGE_JVM_ARGS) -jar $(MVN_TARGET) conf/runtime.json
+	@exec java $(GIT_BRIDGE_JVM_ARGS) -jar $(MVN_TARGET) conf/runtime.json
 
 
 $(MVN_TARGET): $(shell find src -type f) pom.xml
diff --git a/services/git-bridge/dev-env-start.sh b/services/git-bridge/dev-env-start.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..7a5a72df33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/git-bridge/dev-env-start.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# This script is meant to be run as root when the git bridge starts up in
+# the dev environment. It ensures that the data directory is created and
+# owned by the "node" user, which is the regular user git bridge runs as.
+
+ROOT_DIR="${GIT_BRIDGE_ROOT_DIR:-/tmp/wlgb}"
+mkdir -p "$ROOT_DIR"
+chown node:node "$ROOT_DIR"
+
+# Drop privileges using setpriv to avoid spawning a new process
+exec setpriv --reuid=node --regid=node --init-groups make run