diff --git a/solr.Dockerfile b/solr.Dockerfile
index 6a5833a..4b3254d 100644
--- a/solr.Dockerfile
+++ b/solr.Dockerfile
@@ -13,19 +13,26 @@ COPY <<EOF /docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/init-cores.sh
 #!/bin/bash
 echo "StoryCove: Initializing cores..."
 
+# Always sync configsets to the persistent volume so CoreAdmin CREATE works at runtime
+# (needed after unloadCore + recreate without restarting the container)
+mkdir -p /var/solr/data/configsets
+for core in storycove_stories storycove_authors storycove_collections; do
+  cp -rf /opt/solr-9.9.0/server/solr/configsets/\$core /var/solr/data/configsets/
+done
+
 # Create cores on first startup (no-op if they already exist)
 precreate-core storycove_stories /opt/solr-9.9.0/server/solr/configsets/storycove_stories
 precreate-core storycove_authors /opt/solr-9.9.0/server/solr/configsets/storycove_authors
 precreate-core storycove_collections /opt/solr-9.9.0/server/solr/configsets/storycove_collections
 
 # Always sync schema files from the image so deployments pick up schema changes
-cp -f /opt/solr-9.9.0/server/solr/configsets/storycove_stories/conf/managed-schema /var/solr/data/storycove_stories/conf/managed-schema
-if [ -f /opt/solr-9.9.0/server/solr/configsets/storycove_authors/conf/managed-schema ]; then
-  cp -f /opt/solr-9.9.0/server/solr/configsets/storycove_authors/conf/managed-schema /var/solr/data/storycove_authors/conf/managed-schema
-fi
-if [ -f /opt/solr-9.9.0/server/solr/configsets/storycove_collections/conf/managed-schema ]; then
-  cp -f /opt/solr-9.9.0/server/solr/configsets/storycove_collections/conf/managed-schema /var/solr/data/storycove_collections/conf/managed-schema
-fi
+for core in storycove_stories storycove_authors storycove_collections; do
+  src=/opt/solr-9.9.0/server/solr/configsets/\$core/conf/managed-schema
+  dst=/var/solr/data/\$core/conf/managed-schema
+  if [ -f "\$src" ] && [ -d "/var/solr/data/\$core/conf" ]; then
+    cp -f "\$src" "\$dst"
+  fi
+done
 
 echo "StoryCove: Core initialization complete!"
 EOF
@@ -39,4 +46,4 @@ RUN chown -R solr:solr /opt/solr-9.9.0/server/solr/configsets/ && \
 USER solr
 
 # Use the default Solr entrypoint
-CMD ["solr-foreground"]
\ No newline at end of file
+CMD ["solr-foreground"]