diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index fe3acc00c..e4dd862c1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -27,6 +27,11 @@
 - [BREAKING] Reworked `miden-remote-prover`, removing the `worker`/`proxy` distinction and simplifying to a `worker` with a request queue ([#1688](https://github.com/0xMiden/miden-node/pull/1688)).
 - [BREAKING] Renamed `NoteRoot` protobuf message used in `GetNoteScriptByRoot` gRPC endpoints into `NoteScriptRoot` ([#1722](https://github.com/0xMiden/miden-node/pull/1722)).
 
+### Fixes
+
+- Fixed `bundled start` panicking due to duplicate `data_directory` clap argument name between `BundledCommand::Start` and `NtxBuilderConfig` ([#1732](https://github.com/0xMiden/node/pull/1732)).
+- Fixed `bundled bootstrap` requiring `--validator.key.hex` or `--validator.key.kms-id` despite a default key being configured ([#1732](https://github.com/0xMiden/node/pull/1732)).
+
 ## v0.13.7 (2026-02-25)
 
 - Updated `SyncAccountStorageMaps` and `SyncAccountVault` to allow all accounts with public state, including network accounts ([#1711](https://github.com/0xMiden/node/pull/1711)).
diff --git a/bin/node/.env b/bin/node/.env
index 02bceb57e..51a04794f 100644
--- a/bin/node/.env
+++ b/bin/node/.env
@@ -16,3 +16,4 @@ MIDEN_NODE_RPC_URL=http://0.0.0.0:57291
 MIDEN_NODE_DATA_DIRECTORY=./
 MIDEN_NODE_ENABLE_OTEL=true
 MIDEN_NTX_DATA_STORE_SCRIPT_CACHE_SIZE=
+MIDEN_NODE_NTX_DATA_DIRECTORY=
diff --git a/bin/node/src/commands/mod.rs b/bin/node/src/commands/mod.rs
index 3ec8572d7..ec476bd49 100644
--- a/bin/node/src/commands/mod.rs
+++ b/bin/node/src/commands/mod.rs
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ const ENV_MEMPOOL_TX_CAPACITY: &str = "MIDEN_NODE_MEMPOOL_TX_CAPACITY";
 const ENV_NTX_SCRIPT_CACHE_SIZE: &str = "MIDEN_NTX_DATA_STORE_SCRIPT_CACHE_SIZE";
 const ENV_VALIDATOR_KEY: &str = "MIDEN_NODE_VALIDATOR_KEY";
 const ENV_VALIDATOR_KMS_KEY_ID: &str = "MIDEN_NODE_VALIDATOR_KMS_KEY_ID";
+const ENV_NTX_DATA_DIRECTORY: &str = "MIDEN_NODE_NTX_DATA_DIRECTORY";
 
 const DEFAULT_NTX_TICKER_INTERVAL: Duration = Duration::from_millis(200);
 const DEFAULT_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(10);
@@ -59,7 +60,7 @@ fn duration_to_human_readable_string(duration: Duration) -> String {
 ///
 /// Used by the Validator command and the genesis bootstrap command.
 #[derive(clap::Args)]
-#[group(required = true, multiple = false)]
+#[group(required = false, multiple = false)]
 pub struct ValidatorKey {
     /// Insecure, hex-encoded validator secret key for development and testing purposes.
     ///
@@ -178,8 +179,8 @@ pub struct NtxBuilderConfig {
     /// Directory for the ntx-builder's persistent database.
     ///
     /// If not set, defaults to the node's data directory.
-    #[arg(long = "ntx-builder.data-directory", value_name = "DIR")]
-    pub data_directory: Option<PathBuf>,
+    #[arg(long = "ntx-builder.data-directory", env = ENV_NTX_DATA_DIRECTORY, value_name = "DIR")]
+    pub ntx_data_directory: Option<PathBuf>,
 }
 
 impl NtxBuilderConfig {
@@ -194,7 +195,7 @@ impl NtxBuilderConfig {
         validator_url: Url,
         node_data_directory: &Path,
     ) -> miden_node_ntx_builder::NtxBuilderConfig {
-        let data_dir = self.data_directory.unwrap_or_else(|| node_data_directory.to_path_buf());
+        let data_dir = self.ntx_data_directory.unwrap_or_else(|| node_data_directory.to_path_buf());
         let database_filepath = data_dir.join("ntx-builder.sqlite3");
 
         miden_node_ntx_builder::NtxBuilderConfig::new(