diff --git a/llama_stack/distribution/server/server.py b/llama_stack/distribution/server/server.py
index e432cca4e..8c1e41dc0 100644
--- a/llama_stack/distribution/server/server.py
+++ b/llama_stack/distribution/server/server.py
@@ -239,7 +239,12 @@ def main():
         "--template",
         help="One of the template names in llama_stack/templates (e.g., tgi, fireworks, remote-vllm, etc.)",
     )
-    parser.add_argument("--port", type=int, default=5000, help="Port to listen on")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--port",
+        type=int,
+        default=int(os.getenv("LLAMASTACK_PORT", 5000)),
+        help="Port to listen on",
+    )
     parser.add_argument(
         "--disable-ipv6", action="store_true", help="Whether to disable IPv6 support"
     )
diff --git a/llama_stack/distribution/start_container.sh b/llama_stack/distribution/start_container.sh
index 34476c8e0..3b7b55b97 100755
--- a/llama_stack/distribution/start_container.sh
+++ b/llama_stack/distribution/start_container.sh
@@ -90,7 +90,6 @@ $DOCKER_BINARY run $DOCKER_OPTS -it \
   $env_vars \
   -v "$yaml_config:/app/config.yaml" \
   $mounts \
-  $docker_image:$version_tag \
-  python -m llama_stack.distribution.server.server \
-  --yaml-config /app/config.yaml \
-  --port "$port"
+  --env LLAMASTACK_PORT=$port \
+  --entrypoint='["python", "-m", "llama_stack.distribution.server.server", "--yaml-config", "/app/config.yaml"]' \
+  $docker_image:$version_tag