diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/readonly/ReadOnlyConfig.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/readonly/ReadOnlyConfig.java
index 28ef6c5..68849e8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/readonly/ReadOnlyConfig.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/readonly/ReadOnlyConfig.java
@@ -19,25 +19,33 @@
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.annotations.PluginName;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.config.PluginConfigFactory;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.config.SitePaths;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import com.google.inject.Singleton;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.List;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Config;
 
 @Singleton
 class ReadOnlyConfig {
   private static final String MESSAGE_KEY = "message";
+  private static final String MARKER_DIR_PATH_KEY = "markerDir";
   private static final String DEFAULT_MESSAGE =
       "Gerrit is under maintenance - all data is READ ONLY";
   private static final String SSH_ALLOW = "allowSshCommand";
 
   private final String message;
+  private final Path markerDir;
   private final List<String> allowSshCommands;
 
   @Inject
-  ReadOnlyConfig(PluginConfigFactory pluginConfigFactory, @PluginName String pluginName) {
+  ReadOnlyConfig(
+      SitePaths sitePaths, PluginConfigFactory pluginConfigFactory, @PluginName String pluginName) {
     Config cfg = pluginConfigFactory.getGlobalPluginConfig(pluginName);
     this.message = firstNonNull(cfg.getString(pluginName, null, MESSAGE_KEY), DEFAULT_MESSAGE);
+    this.markerDir =
+        sitePaths.resolve(
+            firstNonNull(cfg.getString(pluginName, null, MARKER_DIR_PATH_KEY), "etc"));
     this.allowSshCommands = ImmutableList.copyOf(cfg.getStringList(pluginName, null, SSH_ALLOW));
   }
 
@@ -45,6 +53,10 @@
     return message;
   }
 
+  Path markerDir() {
+    return markerDir;
+  }
+
   List<String> allowSshCommands() {
     return allowSshCommands;
   }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/readonly/ReadOnlyState.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/readonly/ReadOnlyState.java
index b6c4def..9d9d60d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/readonly/ReadOnlyState.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/readonly/ReadOnlyState.java
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 
 package com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.readonly;
 
-import com.google.gerrit.server.config.SitePaths;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import com.google.inject.Singleton;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -26,11 +25,13 @@
 public class ReadOnlyState {
   private static final String GERRIT_READONLY = "gerrit.readonly";
 
+  private final Path markerDir;
   private final Path marker;
 
   @Inject
-  ReadOnlyState(SitePaths sitePaths) {
-    this.marker = sitePaths.etc_dir.resolve(GERRIT_READONLY);
+  ReadOnlyState(ReadOnlyConfig cfg) {
+    this.markerDir = cfg.markerDir();
+    this.marker = markerDir.resolve(GERRIT_READONLY);
   }
 
   public boolean isReadOnly() {
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@
   }
 
   public void setReadOnly(boolean readOnly) throws IOException {
+    Files.createDirectories(markerDir);
     if (readOnly && !Files.exists(marker)) {
       Files.newOutputStream(marker, StandardOpenOption.CREATE).close();
     } else if (!readOnly && Files.exists(marker)) {
diff --git a/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md b/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
index f8d7a1f..a5b0a4c 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
+++ b/src/main/resources/Documentation/config.md
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@
     is blocked due to the server being in read-only mode. When not specified,
     the default is "Gerrit is under maintenance - all data is READ ONLY".
 
+```readonly.markerDir```
+:   Directory in which to create the file marking that Gerrit is in readonly mode.
+    By default, this is `$SITE/etc`.
+
 ```readonly.allowSshCommand```
 :   Allow one or more SSH commands to be executed. When the allow value starts
     with a caret '^' then it is interpreted as regex, otherwise as a prefix.