diff --git a/services/search/cache.py b/services/search/cache.py
index 11fe72215..222682c7b 100644
--- a/services/search/cache.py
+++ b/services/search/cache.py
@@ -6,17 +6,23 @@ from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Dict
 
+from core.constants import DATA_DIR
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 # Cache directories
-CACHE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent / "cache"
+CACHE_DIR = Path(DATA_DIR) / "cache"
 SEARCH_CACHE_DIR = CACHE_DIR / "search"
 CONTENT_CACHE_DIR = CACHE_DIR / "content"
 CACHE_MAX_ENTRIES = 1000
 
-# Create cache directories
-SEARCH_CACHE_DIR.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
-CONTENT_CACHE_DIR.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+# Create cache directories. Guarded so an unwritable path (e.g. a read-only
+# mount) degrades to no-disk-cache instead of crashing module import.
+try:
+    SEARCH_CACHE_DIR.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    CONTENT_CACHE_DIR.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+except OSError as _e:
+    logger.warning("Search cache directory unavailable (%s); disk cache disabled", _e)
 
 # Track cache size for LRU eviction
 search_cache_index: Dict[str, datetime] = {}