diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b2ae72e7..c2cd2b19 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -117,8 +117,9 @@ N.B. The links in the user interface for the attack graph image does not work in
 
 Please also note that the default setup is to recreate all databases on initial
 start-up. In order to persist any installed knowledgebases and created system
-models, you should ensure that `RESET_ON_START=false` in your `.env` file, prior to re-running `./gradlew assemble
-bootTest`.
+models, you should ensure that the environment variable `RESET_ON_START=false` prior to re-running `./gradlew assemble bootTest`.
+In the bash shell, that can be done with `export RESET_ON_START=false`.
+Alternatively, put `RESET_ON_START=false` in your `.env` file and "source" it with `set -a; source .env; set +a`.
 
 ## Installing Docker
 
@@ -721,7 +722,7 @@ docker-compose down
 
 In all these cases, the (Docker disk) volumes are persisted and named volumes
 will be reattached to new containers, during restart. Assuming that you have
-`reset.on.start=false` in your `application.properties` file, this also means
+`RESET_ON_START=false` in your `.env` file, this also means
 that any knowledgebases (domain models), system models, palettes, etc will be
 persisted after restarting the containers.
 
@@ -738,11 +739,11 @@ docker-compose exec ssm bash
 ./gradlew assemble bootTest
 ```
 
-b) Leave containers running, but set `reset.on.start=true` in your
-`application.properties` file, then restart Spyderisk, e.g.
+b) Leave containers running, but set `RESET_ON_START=true` then restart Spyderisk, e.g.
 
 ```shell
 docker-compose exec ssm bash
+export RESET_ON_START=true
 ./gradlew assemble bootTest
 ```
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/uk/ac/soton/itinnovation/security/systemmodeller/InitializeManagementGraph.java b/src/main/java/uk/ac/soton/itinnovation/security/systemmodeller/InitializeManagementGraph.java
index a05076ed..dab43b92 100644
--- a/src/main/java/uk/ac/soton/itinnovation/security/systemmodeller/InitializeManagementGraph.java
+++ b/src/main/java/uk/ac/soton/itinnovation/security/systemmodeller/InitializeManagementGraph.java
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ public void run(String... args) {
 				}
 				logger.warn("No domain models currently installed! Options include:");
 				String restartMsg = production ? "restart Spyderisk (docker-compose down -v; docker-compose up -d)" 
-											: "restart Spyderisk (ensure reset.on.start=true in application properties)";
+											: "restart Spyderisk (ensure RESET_ON_START=true in your .env file)";
 
 				logger.warn("1) Copy required domain model zip bundles into {} then " + restartMsg, kbSourceFolder);
 				logger.warn("2) Manually install each required domain model (knowledgebase) via the Spyderisk Knowledgebase Manager page");
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application-production.properties b/src/main/resources/application-production.properties
index c0314f4e..a90da546 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/application-production.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/application-production.properties
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 # STW - temporarily commented out
 # logging levels need to be consistent with the policy in logback.xml
 #logging.level.uk.ac.soton.itinnovation.security.systemmodeller=WARN
+
+# Ensure that the databases are not reset on start
 reset.on.start=false
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application.properties b/src/main/resources/application.properties
index 984b2ba7..f092c31b 100755
--- a/src/main/resources/application.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@ spring.application.version=@VERSION@
 server.port=8081
 ######### WARNING: This property should match (API_)END_POINT in /src/main/webapp/config/config.js #########
 server.servlet.contextPath=/system-modeller
+
+# If true then reset the MongoDB and triplestore databases on start-up.
+# In the development environment, this is overridden in the docker-compose.yml file which in turn may be configured by a .env file.
+# In a production environment (with the "production" Spring profile set) this is overridden by the value in application-production.properties
 reset.on.start=true
 
 # Knowledgebase source location (domain model zip bundles to install)