diff --git a/geth-poa/entrypoint.sh b/geth-poa/entrypoint.sh
index 35ec08c5e3..a3a06edc31 100644
--- a/geth-poa/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/geth-poa/entrypoint.sh
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ if [ ! -d "$GETH_CHAINDATA_DIR" ]; then
 	echo "Initializing genesis."
 	geth --verbosity="$VERBOSITY" \
 		--nousb \
+		--state.scheme=path \
+		--db.engine=pebble \
 		--datadir="$GETH_DATA_DIR" init \
 		"$GENESIS_L1_PATH"
 else