diff --git a/scripts/catalog/catalog_sources.sh b/scripts/catalog/catalog_sources.sh
index 6ee3a23..86e476f 100644
--- a/scripts/catalog/catalog_sources.sh
+++ b/scripts/catalog/catalog_sources.sh
@@ -17,8 +17,10 @@
 # (lpFetchIndex is untouched) — a third-party catalog can never become a channel
 # for system updates.
 
-# Its own file, next to the other live config (manager-owned control plane).
-catalogSourcesFile() { echo "${configs_dir%/}/catalog/sources.json"; }
+# Its own file in the manager's persistent state root ($docker_dir — beside the
+# apps database), NOT under configs/ (every file there is treated as a sourced
+# .config, so a JSON there would be executed as bash at startup).
+catalogSourcesFile() { echo "${docker_dir%/}/catalog/sources.json"; }
 
 # The extra (non-official) sources as a JSON array; [] when none/absent/invalid.
 catalogExtraSourcesJson() {