diff --git a/clients/reth/reth.sh b/clients/reth/reth.sh
index 0468bc96ba..a2b2a5d6a1 100644
--- a/clients/reth/reth.sh
+++ b/clients/reth/reth.sh
@@ -50,8 +50,9 @@ case "$HIVE_LOGLEVEL" in
 esac
 
 # Create the data directory.
-mkdir /reth-hive-datadir
-FLAGS="$FLAGS --datadir /reth-hive-datadir"
+DATADIR="/reth-hive-datadir"
+mkdir $DATADIR
+FLAGS="$FLAGS --datadir $DATADIR"
 
 # TODO If a specific network ID is requested, use that
 #if [ "$HIVE_NETWORK_ID" != "" ]; then
@@ -80,6 +81,9 @@ echo $FLAGS
 echo "Initializing database with genesis state..."
 $reth init $FLAGS --chain /genesis.json
 
+# Make sure pruner doesn't start
+echo -e "[prune]\\nblock_interval = 500_000" >> $DATADIR/reth.toml
+
 # make sure we use the same genesis each time
 FLAGS="$FLAGS --chain /genesis.json"