diff --git a/cms/envs/aws.py b/cms/envs/aws.py
index c217d2aa81..2d0264387b 100644
--- a/cms/envs/aws.py
+++ b/cms/envs/aws.py
@@ -106,6 +106,10 @@ if STATIC_URL_BASE:
 # DEFAULT_COURSE_ABOUT_IMAGE_URL specifies the default image to show for courses that don't provide one
 DEFAULT_COURSE_ABOUT_IMAGE_URL = ENV_TOKENS.get('DEFAULT_COURSE_ABOUT_IMAGE_URL', DEFAULT_COURSE_ABOUT_IMAGE_URL)
 
+# MEDIA_ROOT specifies the directory where user-uploaded files are stored.
+MEDIA_ROOT = ENV_TOKENS.get('MEDIA_ROOT', MEDIA_ROOT)
+MEDIA_URL = ENV_TOKENS.get('MEDIA_URL', MEDIA_URL)
+
 # GITHUB_REPO_ROOT is the base directory
 # for course data
 GITHUB_REPO_ROOT = ENV_TOKENS.get('GITHUB_REPO_ROOT', GITHUB_REPO_ROOT)
diff --git a/cms/envs/common.py b/cms/envs/common.py
index 84d171c8d9..dee9d6667e 100644
--- a/cms/envs/common.py
+++ b/cms/envs/common.py
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ from lms.envs.common import (
     ENABLE_CREDIT_ELIGIBILITY, YOUTUBE_API_KEY,
     DEFAULT_COURSE_ABOUT_IMAGE_URL,
 
+    # User-uploaded content
+    MEDIA_ROOT,
+    MEDIA_URL,
+
     # Django REST framework configuration
     REST_FRAMEWORK,
 
diff --git a/cms/envs/devstack.py b/cms/envs/devstack.py
index 02cd1ed8b1..3f7caf7438 100644
--- a/cms/envs/devstack.py
+++ b/cms/envs/devstack.py
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ from .aws import *  # pylint: disable=wildcard-import, unused-wildcard-import
 del DEFAULT_FILE_STORAGE
 COURSE_IMPORT_EXPORT_STORAGE = 'django.core.files.storage.FileSystemStorage'
 USER_TASKS_ARTIFACT_STORAGE = COURSE_IMPORT_EXPORT_STORAGE
-MEDIA_ROOT = "/edx/var/edxapp/uploads"
 
 DEBUG = True
 USE_I18N = True