diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/Dockerfile
index 2601b08..e3ffd2f 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -32,9 +32,7 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/nix,from=nixos/nix:latest,source=/nix \
         ln -s "$bin" /out/test-nix/bin/$(basename "$bin"); \
     done && \
     mkdir -p /out/test-rootfs/tmp \
-      /out/test-rootfs/usr/local/bin \
-      /out/test-rootfs/var/run \
-      /out/test-rootfs/var/lib/intermesh && \
+      /out/test-rootfs/usr/local/bin && \
     chmod 1777 /out/test-rootfs/tmp
 
 FROM e2e-builder AS builder
diff --git a/src/state/mod.rs b/src/state/mod.rs
index d50656b..22dc335 100644
--- a/src/state/mod.rs
+++ b/src/state/mod.rs
@@ -137,7 +137,20 @@ impl State {
     /// If a field isn't provided via args/env, we fall back to the state file.
     pub(crate) async fn new(args: Args) -> Result<Self> {
         if let Some(parent) = args.state_file.parent() {
-            fs::create_dir_all(parent).await?;
+            fs::create_dir_all(parent).await.with_context(|| {
+                format!("failed to create state directory {}", parent.display())
+            })?;
+            #[cfg(unix)]
+            {
+                fs::set_permissions(parent, Permissions::from_mode(0o700))
+                    .await
+                    .with_context(|| {
+                        format!(
+                            "failed to set permissions on state directory {}",
+                            parent.display()
+                        )
+                    })?;
+            }
         }
 
         let mut private_key_pem = None;
@@ -368,7 +381,9 @@ impl State {
             .context("state file has no parent directory")?
             .to_path_buf();
 
-        fs::create_dir_all(&parent_dir).await?;
+        fs::create_dir_all(&parent_dir).await.with_context(|| {
+            format!("failed to create state directory {}", parent_dir.display())
+        })?;
 
         // The tempfile + fsync + rename sequence uses blocking std::fs APIs.
         // Run it on Tokio's blocking pool so we don't stall async tasks.