diff --git a/chatmaild/src/chatmaild/config.py b/chatmaild/src/chatmaild/config.py
index e6a8886a..8b4aab14 100644
--- a/chatmaild/src/chatmaild/config.py
+++ b/chatmaild/src/chatmaild/config.py
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@ class Config:
         )
         self.mtail_address = params.get("mtail_address")
         self.disable_ipv6 = params.get("disable_ipv6", "false").lower() == "true"
-        self.noacme = os.environ.get("CHATMAIL_NOACME", "false").lower() == "true"
         self.addr_v4 = os.environ.get("CHATMAIL_ADDR_V4", "")
         self.addr_v6 = os.environ.get("CHATMAIL_ADDR_V6", "")
         self.acme_email = params.get("acme_email", "")
diff --git a/docker-compose.override.yaml.example b/docker-compose.override.yaml.example
index 6503dc3b..8f612645 100644
--- a/docker-compose.override.yaml.example
+++ b/docker-compose.override.yaml.example
@@ -5,6 +5,22 @@
 #
 # Volumes listed here are APPENDED to the base file's volumes.
 # Scalar values (environment, image, etc.) are REPLACED.
+#
+# --- External TLS certificates ---
+# Use when certs are managed outside the container (certbot, acmetool, Traefik, ...).
+# Mount the cert files and set TLS_EXTERNAL_CERT_AND_KEY to the in-container paths.
+# Changed certs are picked up automatically (inotify via tls-cert-reload.path).
+#
+# Host acmetool (bare-metal migration):
+#   volumes:  - /var/lib/acme/live:/var/lib/acme/live:ro
+#   environment:
+#     TLS_EXTERNAL_CERT_AND_KEY: "/var/lib/acme/live/${MAIL_DOMAIN}/fullchain /var/lib/acme/live/${MAIL_DOMAIN}/privkey"
+#
+# Traefik certs-dumper (see docker/docker-compose-traefik.yaml):
+#   volumes:  - traefik-certs:/certs:ro
+#   environment:
+#     TLS_EXTERNAL_CERT_AND_KEY: "/certs/${MAIL_DOMAIN}/certificate.crt /certs/${MAIL_DOMAIN}/privatekey.key"
+
 services:
   chatmail:
     volumes:
diff --git a/docker-compose.yaml b/docker-compose.yaml
index a53e00fd..6829c621 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ services:
       CMDEPLOY_STAGES: ${CMDEPLOY_STAGES:-}
       CHATMAIL_NOSYSCTL: ${CHATMAIL_NOSYSCTL:-True}
       CHATMAIL_NOPORTCHECK: ${CHATMAIL_NOPORTCHECK:-True}
-      CHATMAIL_NOACME: ${CHATMAIL_NOACME:-}
+      TLS_EXTERNAL_CERT_AND_KEY: ${TLS_EXTERNAL_CERT_AND_KEY:-}
     network_mode: "host"
     volumes:
       ## system (required)
diff --git a/docker/chatmail_relay.dockerfile b/docker/chatmail_relay.dockerfile
index 6a6debe7..4204b5b5 100644
--- a/docker/chatmail_relay.dockerfile
+++ b/docker/chatmail_relay.dockerfile
@@ -87,12 +87,6 @@ RUN rm -f /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
 COPY --chmod=555 ./docker/files/setup_chatmail_docker.sh /setup_chatmail_docker.sh
 COPY --chmod=555 ./docker/files/entrypoint.sh /entrypoint.sh
 
-# Certificate monitoring as a proper systemd timer (not a background process)
-COPY --chmod=555 ./docker/files/chatmail-certmon.sh /chatmail-certmon.sh
-COPY ./docker/files/chatmail-certmon.service /lib/systemd/system/chatmail-certmon.service
-COPY ./docker/files/chatmail-certmon.timer /lib/systemd/system/chatmail-certmon.timer
-RUN ln -sf /lib/systemd/system/chatmail-certmon.timer /etc/systemd/system/timers.target.wants/chatmail-certmon.timer
-
 HEALTHCHECK --interval=60s --timeout=10s --retries=3 \
   CMD systemctl is-active dovecot postfix nginx unbound opendkim filtermail doveauth chatmail-metadata || exit 1
 
diff --git a/docker/files/chatmail-certmon.service b/docker/files/chatmail-certmon.service
deleted file mode 100644
index f89b950f..00000000
--- a/docker/files/chatmail-certmon.service
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-[Unit]
-Description=Check TLS certificate changes and reload services
-After=setup_chatmail.service
-
-[Service]
-Type=oneshot
-ExecStart=/bin/bash /chatmail-certmon.sh
-PassEnvironment=MAIL_DOMAIN PATH_TO_SSL
diff --git a/docker/files/chatmail-certmon.sh b/docker/files/chatmail-certmon.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 107c169d..00000000
--- a/docker/files/chatmail-certmon.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-# Check if TLS certificates have changed and reload services if so.
-# Called by chatmail-certmon.timer (systemd timer, default every 60s).
-set -eo pipefail
-
-PATH_TO_SSL="${PATH_TO_SSL:-/var/lib/acme/live/${MAIL_DOMAIN}}"
-HASH_FILE="/run/chatmail-certmon.hash"
-
-if [ ! -d "$PATH_TO_SSL" ]; then
-    exit 0
-fi
-
-current_hash=$(find "$PATH_TO_SSL" -type f -exec sha1sum {} \; | sort | sha1sum | awk '{print $1}')
-previous_hash=""
-if [ -f "$HASH_FILE" ]; then
-    previous_hash=$(cat "$HASH_FILE")
-fi
-
-if [ -n "$current_hash" ] && [ "$current_hash" != "$previous_hash" ]; then
-    echo "[INFO] Certificate hash changed, reloading nginx, dovecot and postfix."
-    echo "$current_hash" > "$HASH_FILE"
-    # On first run (no previous hash), don't reload — services may not be up yet
-    if [ -n "$previous_hash" ]; then
-        systemctl reload nginx.service
-        systemctl reload dovecot.service
-        systemctl reload postfix.service
-    fi
-fi
diff --git a/docker/files/chatmail-certmon.timer b/docker/files/chatmail-certmon.timer
deleted file mode 100644
index 8dc5aa8d..00000000
--- a/docker/files/chatmail-certmon.timer
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-[Unit]
-Description=Periodically check TLS certificate changes
-
-[Timer]
-OnBootSec=120
-OnUnitActiveSec=60
-
-[Install]
-WantedBy=timers.target
diff --git a/docker/files/entrypoint.sh b/docker/files/entrypoint.sh
index f6a3fb1f..a1fdddd4 100755
--- a/docker/files/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/docker/files/entrypoint.sh
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ SETUP_CHATMAIL_SERVICE_PATH="${SETUP_CHATMAIL_SERVICE_PATH:-/lib/systemd/system/
 # Whitelist only the env vars needed by setup_chatmail_docker.sh.
 # Forwarding all env vars (via printenv) would leak Docker internals,
 # orchestrator secrets, and other unrelated variables into systemd.
-env_vars="MAIL_DOMAIN CMDEPLOY_STAGES CHATMAIL_INI CHATMAIL_NOSYSCTL CHATMAIL_NOPORTCHECK CHATMAIL_NOACME PATH_TO_SSL PATH"
+env_vars="MAIL_DOMAIN CMDEPLOY_STAGES CHATMAIL_INI CHATMAIL_NOSYSCTL CHATMAIL_NOPORTCHECK TLS_EXTERNAL_CERT_AND_KEY PATH"
 sed -i "s|<envs_list>|$env_vars|g" "$SETUP_CHATMAIL_SERVICE_PATH"
 
 exec /lib/systemd/systemd "$@"
diff --git a/docker/files/setup_chatmail_docker.sh b/docker/files/setup_chatmail_docker.sh
index a1f9c82a..54226454 100755
--- a/docker/files/setup_chatmail_docker.sh
+++ b/docker/files/setup_chatmail_docker.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,13 @@ if [ ! -f "$CHATMAIL_INI" ]; then
     $CMDEPLOY init --config "$CHATMAIL_INI" "$MAIL_DOMAIN"
 fi
 
+# Inject external TLS paths from env var (unless user mounted their own ini)
+if [ -n "${TLS_EXTERNAL_CERT_AND_KEY:-}" ]; then
+    if ! grep -q '^tls_external_cert_and_key' "$CHATMAIL_INI"; then
+        echo "tls_external_cert_and_key = $TLS_EXTERNAL_CERT_AND_KEY" >> "$CHATMAIL_INI"
+    fi
+fi
+
 # --- Deploy fingerprint: skip cmdeploy run if nothing changed ---
 # On restart with identical image+config, systemd already brings up all
 # enabled services — the full cmdeploy run is redundant (~30s saved).
diff --git a/env.example b/env.example
index ba62c93c..1cd99cd5 100644
--- a/env.example
+++ b/env.example
@@ -3,5 +3,7 @@ MAIL_DOMAIN="chat.example.com"
 # CMDEPLOY_STAGES - default: "configure,activate". Set to "install,configure,activate" to force full reinstall.
 # CMDEPLOY_STAGES="configure,activate"
 
-# Skip acmetool when using an external certificate manager (e.g. Traefik, Caddy).
-# CHATMAIL_NOACME="True"
+# External TLS certificates (e.g. from Traefik, Caddy, certbot on the host).
+# Paths refer to locations *inside* the container.
+# Mount the cert files via a volume (see docker-compose.override.yaml.example).
+# TLS_EXTERNAL_CERT_AND_KEY="/certs/fullchain.pem /certs/privkey.pem"