diff --git a/client/ruby/solr-ruby/solr/conf/solrconfig.xml b/client/ruby/solr-ruby/solr/conf/solrconfig.xml
index ef0afbe2ad4..ee065adaa37 100755
--- a/client/ruby/solr-ruby/solr/conf/solrconfig.xml
+++ b/client/ruby/solr-ruby/solr/conf/solrconfig.xml
@@ -29,9 +29,7 @@
   <!-- Used to specify an alternate directory to hold all index data
        other than the default ./data under the Solr home.
        If replication is in use, this should match the replication configuration. -->
-  <!--
-  <dataDir>./solr/data</dataDir>
-  -->
+  <dataDir>${solr.data.dir:./solr/data}</dataDir>
 
   <indexDefaults>
    <!-- Values here affect all index writers and act as a default unless overridden. -->