diff --git a/Documentation/config-login-register.txt b/Documentation/config-login-register.txt
index 3dcef0a603..cc2185b573 100644
--- a/Documentation/config-login-register.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config-login-register.txt
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ Open a browser and enter the canonical url of your Gerrit server.  You can
 find the url in the settings file.
 
 ----
-  gerrit@host:~$ git config -f ~/gerrit_testsite/etc/gerrit.config gerrit.canonicalWebUrl
+  gerrit@host:~$ git config -f $GERRIT_SITE/etc/gerrit.config gerrit.canonicalWebUrl
   http://localhost:8080/
   gerrit@host:~$
 ----
@@ -70,9 +70,9 @@ proxy, and you are using an external OpenID provider, you will need to add the
 proxy settings in the configuration file.
 
 ----
-  gerrit@host:~$ git config -f ~/gerrit_testsite/etc/gerrit.config --add http.proxy http://proxy:8080
-  gerrit@host:~$ git config -f ~/gerrit_testsite/etc/gerrit.config --add http.proxyUsername username
-  gerrit@host:~$ git config -f ~/gerrit_testsite/etc/gerrit.config --add http.proxyPassword password
+  gerrit@host:~$ git config -f $GERRIT_SITE/etc/gerrit.config --add http.proxy http://proxy:8080
+  gerrit@host:~$ git config -f $GERRIT_SITE/etc/gerrit.config --add http.proxyUsername username
+  gerrit@host:~$ git config -f $GERRIT_SITE/etc/gerrit.config --add http.proxyPassword password
 ----
 
 Refer to the Gerrit configuration guide for more detailed information about
diff --git a/Documentation/dev-readme.txt b/Documentation/dev-readme.txt
index d9cecce247..f9b09da718 100644
--- a/Documentation/dev-readme.txt
+++ b/Documentation/dev-readme.txt
@@ -53,8 +53,9 @@ After you compile the project <<compile_project,(above)>>, run the Gerrit
 command to create a test site:
 
 ----
+  export GERRIT_SITE=~/gerrit_testsite
   $(bazel info output_base)/external/local_jdk/bin/java \
-      -jar bazel-bin/gerrit.war init --batch --dev -d ../gerrit_testsite
+      -jar bazel-bin/gerrit.war init --batch --dev -d $GERRIT_SITE
 ----
 
 [[special_bazel_java_version]]
@@ -84,7 +85,7 @@ On the Start page, you can:
 To shut down the daemon, run:
 
 ----
-  ~/gerrit_testsite/bin/gerrit.sh stop
+  $GERRIT_SITE/bin/gerrit.sh stop
 ----
 
 
@@ -135,7 +136,7 @@ copying to the test site:
 
 ----
   $(bazel info output_base)/external/local_jdk/bin/java \
-     -jar bazel-bin/gerrit.war daemon -d ~/gerrit_testsite \
+     -jar bazel-bin/gerrit.war daemon -d $GERRIT_SITE \
      --console-log
 ----
 
@@ -167,7 +168,7 @@ To start the Inspector, add the '-s' option to the daemon start command:
 
 ----
   $(bazel info output_base)/external/local_jdk/bin/java \
-     -jar bazel-bin/gerrit.war daemon -d ~/gerrit_testsite -s
+     -jar bazel-bin/gerrit.war daemon -d $GERRIT_SITE -s
 ----
 
 NOTE: To learn why using `java -jar` isn't sufficient, see
diff --git a/Documentation/linux-quickstart.txt b/Documentation/linux-quickstart.txt
index bfebc6a2dd..c2dcedb5b3 100644
--- a/Documentation/linux-quickstart.txt
+++ b/Documentation/linux-quickstart.txt
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@ link:dev-readme.html[Gerrit Code Review: Developer Setup].
 From the command line, enter:
 
 ....
-java -jar gerrit*.war init --batch --dev -d ~/gerrit_testsite
+export GERRIT_SITE=~/gerrit_testsite
+java -jar gerrit*.war init --batch --dev -d $GERRIT_SITE
 ....
 
 This command takes two parameters:
@@ -78,7 +79,7 @@ To prevent outside connections from contacting your new Gerrit instance
 `localhost`. For example:
 
 ....
-git config --file ~/gerrit_testsite/etc/gerrit.config httpd.listenUrl 'http://localhost:8080'
+git config --file $GERRIT_SITE/etc/gerrit.config httpd.listenUrl 'http://localhost:8080'
 ....
 
 == Restart the Gerrit service
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ You must restart the Gerrit service for your authentication type and listen URL
 changes to take effect:
 
 ....
-~/gerrit_testsite/bin/gerrit.sh restart
+$GERRIT_SITE/bin/gerrit.sh restart
 ....
 
 == Viewing Gerrit
diff --git a/polygerrit-ui/README.md b/polygerrit-ui/README.md
index ac299e50d9..c8c8e4f07f 100644
--- a/polygerrit-ui/README.md
+++ b/polygerrit-ui/README.md
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ directly from the sources in `polygerrit_ui/app/` instead of from the war:
 ```sh
 $(bazel info output_base)/external/local_jdk/bin/java \
     -jar bazel-bin/gerrit.war daemon \
-    -d ../gerrit_testsite \
+    -d $GERRIT_SITE \
     --console-log \
     --polygerrit-dev
 ```