diff --git a/app/Dockerfile b/app/Dockerfile
index 93a9b0e..7601036 100644
--- a/app/Dockerfile
+++ b/app/Dockerfile
@@ -26,9 +26,10 @@ RUN sed -i.bak 's/;clear_env = .*/clear_env = no/i' /etc/php8/php-fpm.d/www.conf
 ENV OWNER_UID=1000
 ENV OWNER_GID=1000
 
+# TTRSS_XDEBUG_HOST defaults to host IP if unset
 ENV TTRSS_XDEBUG_ENABLED=""
 ENV TTRSS_XDEBUG_HOST=""
-ENV TTRSS_XDEBUG_PORT=""
+ENV TTRSS_XDEBUG_PORT="9000"
 
 ENV TTRSS_DB_TYPE="pgsql"
 ENV TTRSS_DB_HOST="db"
diff --git a/app/startup.sh b/app/startup.sh
index ae2ee4c..dd605aa 100755
--- a/app/startup.sh
+++ b/app/startup.sh
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ cp ${SCRIPT_ROOT}/config.docker.php $DST_DIR/config.php
 rm -f $DST_DIR/config.php.bak
 
 if [ ! -z "${TTRSS_XDEBUG_ENABLED}" ]; then
+	if [ -z "${TTRSS_XDEBUG_HOST}" ]; then
+		export TTRSS_XDEBUG_HOST=$(ip ro sh 0/0 | cut -d " " -f 3)
+	fi
 	echo enabling xdebug with the following parameters:
 	env | grep TTRSS_XDEBUG
 	cat > /etc/php8/conf.d/50_xdebug.ini <<EOF