diff --git a/.internal/templates/services/mariadb/buildFiles/Dockerfile b/.internal/templates/services/mariadb/buildFiles/Dockerfile
index 4cefb4b4a..36c4fa7c1 100644
--- a/.internal/templates/services/mariadb/buildFiles/Dockerfile
+++ b/.internal/templates/services/mariadb/buildFiles/Dockerfile
@@ -1,14 +1,18 @@
 # Download base image
 FROM ghcr.io/linuxserver/mariadb
 
+# candidates for customisation are
+ENV CANDIDATES="/defaults/my.cnf /defaults/custom.cnf"
+
 # apply stability patches recommended in
 #   
 #   https://discord.com/channels/638610460567928832/638610461109256194/825049573520965703
 #   https://stackoverflow.com/questions/61809270/how-to-discover-why-mariadb-crashes
-RUN sed -i.bak \
-  -e "s/^thread_cache_size/# thread_cache_size/" \
-  -e "s/^read_buffer_size/# read_buffer_size/" \
-  /defaults/my.cnf
+RUN for CNF in ${CANDIDATES} ; do [ -f ${CNF} ] && break ; done ; \
+    sed -i.bak \
+        -e "s/^thread_cache_size/# thread_cache_size/" \
+        -e "s/^read_buffer_size/# read_buffer_size/" \
+        ${CNF}
 
 # copy the health-check script into place
 ENV HEALTHCHECK_SCRIPT "iotstack_healthcheck.sh"
@@ -22,4 +26,6 @@ HEALTHCHECK \
    --retries=3 \
    CMD ${HEALTHCHECK_SCRIPT} || exit 1
 
+ENV CANDIDATES=
+
 # EOF