diff --git a/dev/docker-compose/env.dev.compose b/dev/docker-compose/env.dev.compose
index 1bbbba33..34d17476 100644
--- a/dev/docker-compose/env.dev.compose
+++ b/dev/docker-compose/env.dev.compose
@@ -37,7 +37,11 @@ BUTTERCUP_SCHEDULER_SCRATCH_DIR=/node_data/crs_scratch
 BUTTERCUP_PATCHER_SERVE__REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379
 BUTTERCUP_PATCHER_SERVE__SLEEP_TIME=5
 BUTTERCUP_PATCHER_LOG_LEVEL=debug
-BUTTERCUP_PATCHER_TASK_STORAGE_DIR=/node_data/crs_scratch
+# Where the downloaded challenge task lives (matches downloader/scheduler).
+# Must NOT be crs_scratch: get_clean_task() resolves <task_storage>/<task_id>,
+# which under crs_scratch collides with the fuzzer's per-task scratch dir
+# (no task_meta.json there) and crashes TaskMeta.load().
+BUTTERCUP_PATCHER_TASK_STORAGE_DIR=/node_data/tasks_storage
 BUTTERCUP_PATCHER_SCRATCH_DIR=/node_data/crs_scratch
 
 BUTTERCUP_PROGRAM_MODEL_SERVE__REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379