diff --git a/birdnet-pi/rootfs/custom-services.d/30-monitoring.sh b/birdnet-pi/rootfs/custom-services.d/30-monitoring.sh
index 62d9f9991..58f53c423 100755
--- a/birdnet-pi/rootfs/custom-services.d/30-monitoring.sh
+++ b/birdnet-pi/rootfs/custom-services.d/30-monitoring.sh
@@ -2,19 +2,21 @@
 # shellcheck shell=bash
 # Adapted from https://github.com/mcguirepr89/BirdNET-Pi/issues/393#issuecomment-1166445710
 
+HOME="/home/pi"
+
 # Define logging functions
 log_green() { echo -e "\033[32m$1\033[0m"; }
 log_red() { echo -e "\033[31m$1\033[0m"; }
 log_yellow() { echo -e "\033[33m$1\033[0m"; }
 log_info() { echo -e "\033[34m$1\033[0m"; }
 
-echo "$(log_green "Starting service: throttlerecording")"
-touch "$HOME/BirdSongs/StreamData/analyzing_now.txt"
-
 # Read configuration
 set +u
 source /etc/birdnet/birdnet.conf
 
+echo "$(log_green "Starting service: throttlerecording")"
+touch "$HOME/BirdSongs/StreamData/analyzing_now.txt"
+
 # Set constants
 srv="birdnet_recording"
 srv2="birdnet_analysis"