diff --git a/bitnami/elasticsearch/7/debian-10/Dockerfile b/bitnami/elasticsearch/7/debian-10/Dockerfile
index 5aa07d4c9d0b..5bb03d006eb7 100644
--- a/bitnami/elasticsearch/7/debian-10/Dockerfile
+++ b/bitnami/elasticsearch/7/debian-10/Dockerfile
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ RUN chmod g+rwX /opt/bitnami
 COPY rootfs /
 RUN /opt/bitnami/scripts/elasticsearch/postunpack.sh
 ENV BITNAMI_APP_NAME="elasticsearch" \
-    BITNAMI_IMAGE_VERSION="7.12.0-debian-10-r12" \
+    BITNAMI_IMAGE_VERSION="7.12.0-debian-10-r13" \
     JAVA_HOME="/opt/bitnami/java" \
     LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/opt/bitnami/elasticsearch/jdk/lib:/opt/bitnami/elasticsearch/jdk/lib/server:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
 
diff --git a/bitnami/elasticsearch/7/debian-10/rootfs/opt/bitnami/scripts/elasticsearch-env.sh b/bitnami/elasticsearch/7/debian-10/rootfs/opt/bitnami/scripts/elasticsearch-env.sh
index 2534dcf3261d..cf71d3125407 100644
--- a/bitnami/elasticsearch/7/debian-10/rootfs/opt/bitnami/scripts/elasticsearch-env.sh
+++ b/bitnami/elasticsearch/7/debian-10/rootfs/opt/bitnami/scripts/elasticsearch-env.sh
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ export BITNAMI_DEBUG="${BITNAMI_DEBUG:-false}"
 # By setting an environment variable matching *_FILE to a file path, the prefixed environment
 # variable will be overridden with the value specified in that file
 elasticsearch_env_vars=(
+    ELASTICSEARCH_DATA_DIR_LIST
     ELASTICSEARCH_BIND_ADDRESS
     ELASTICSEARCH_CLUSTER_HOSTS
     ELASTICSEARCH_TOTAL_NODES
@@ -42,7 +43,6 @@ elasticsearch_env_vars=(
     ELASTICSEARCH_PLUGINS
     ELASTICSEARCH_KEYS
     ELASTICSEARCH_PORT_NUMBER
-    ELASTICSEARCH_DATA_DIR_LIST
 )
 for env_var in "${elasticsearch_env_vars[@]}"; do
     file_env_var="${env_var}_FILE"
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ export ELASTICSEARCH_CONF_DIR="${ELASTICSEARCH_BASE_DIR}/config"
 export ELASTICSEARCH_LOGS_DIR="${ELASTICSEARCH_BASE_DIR}/logs"
 export ELASTICSEARCH_PLUGINS_DIR="${ELASTICSEARCH_BASE_DIR}/plugins"
 export ELASTICSEARCH_DATA_DIR="${ELASTICSEARCH_VOLUME_DIR}/data"
+export ELASTICSEARCH_DATA_DIR_LIST="${ELASTICSEARCH_DATA_DIR_LIST:-}"
 export ELASTICSEARCH_TMP_DIR="${ELASTICSEARCH_BASE_DIR}/tmp"
 export ELASTICSEARCH_BIN_DIR="${ELASTICSEARCH_BASE_DIR}/bin"
 export ELASTICSEARCH_MOUNTED_PLUGINS_DIR="${ELASTICSEARCH_VOLUME_DIR}/plugins"
@@ -98,6 +99,5 @@ export ELASTICSEARCH_NODE_TYPE="${ELASTICSEARCH_NODE_TYPE:-master}"
 export ELASTICSEARCH_PLUGINS="${ELASTICSEARCH_PLUGINS:-}"
 export ELASTICSEARCH_KEYS="${ELASTICSEARCH_KEYS:-}"
 export ELASTICSEARCH_PORT_NUMBER="${ELASTICSEARCH_PORT_NUMBER:-9200}"
-export ELASTICSEARCH_DATA_DIR_LIST="${ELASTICSEARCH_DATA_DIR_LIST:-}"
 
 # Custom environment variables may be defined below
diff --git a/bitnami/elasticsearch/7/debian-10/rootfs/opt/bitnami/scripts/libelasticsearch.sh b/bitnami/elasticsearch/7/debian-10/rootfs/opt/bitnami/scripts/libelasticsearch.sh
index 18bdb216ca2c..404f8a15e4a9 100644
--- a/bitnami/elasticsearch/7/debian-10/rootfs/opt/bitnami/scripts/libelasticsearch.sh
+++ b/bitnami/elasticsearch/7/debian-10/rootfs/opt/bitnami/scripts/libelasticsearch.sh
@@ -432,9 +432,9 @@ elasticsearch_initialize() {
     # Exec replaces the process without creating a new one, and when the container is restarted it may have the same PID
     rm -f "$ELASTICSEARCH_TMP_DIR/elasticsearch.pid"
 
-    read -r -a data_dirs_list <<<"$(tr ',;' ' ' <<<"$ELASTICSEARCH_DATA_DIR_LIST")"
+    read -r -a data_dirs_list <<< "$(tr ',;' ' ' <<< "$ELASTICSEARCH_DATA_DIR_LIST")"
     if [[ "${#data_dirs_list[@]}" -gt 0 ]]; then
-        info "Multiple data directories specified, ignoring ELASTICSEARCH_DATA_DIR option"
+        info "Multiple data directories specified, ignoring ELASTICSEARCH_DATA_DIR environment variable."
     else
         data_dirs_list+=("$ELASTICSEARCH_DATA_DIR")
 
@@ -446,10 +446,14 @@ elasticsearch_initialize() {
     fi
 
     debug "Ensuring expected directories/files exist..."
-    for dir in "$ELASTICSEARCH_TMP_DIR" "${data_dirs_list[@]}" "$ELASTICSEARCH_LOGS_DIR" "$ELASTICSEARCH_BASE_DIR/plugins" "$ELASTICSEARCH_BASE_DIR/modules" "$ELASTICSEARCH_CONF_DIR"; do
+    for dir in "$ELASTICSEARCH_TMP_DIR" "$ELASTICSEARCH_LOGS_DIR" "$ELASTICSEARCH_BASE_DIR/plugins" "$ELASTICSEARCH_BASE_DIR/modules" "$ELASTICSEARCH_CONF_DIR"; do
         ensure_dir_exists "$dir"
         am_i_root && chown -R "$ELASTICSEARCH_DAEMON_USER:$ELASTICSEARCH_DAEMON_GROUP" "$dir"
     done
+    for dir in "${data_dirs_list[@]}"; do
+        ensure_dir_exists "$dir"
+        am_i_root && is_mounted_dir_empty "$dir" && chown -R "$ELASTICSEARCH_DAEMON_USER:$ELASTICSEARCH_DAEMON_GROUP" "$dir"
+    done
 
     if is_file_writable "${ELASTICSEARCH_CONF_DIR}/jvm.options"; then
         if is_boolean_yes "$ELASTICSEARCH_DISABLE_JVM_HEAP_DUMP"; then
diff --git a/bitnami/elasticsearch/README.md b/bitnami/elasticsearch/README.md
index 4c20b96caeba..7279a1445cab 100644
--- a/bitnami/elasticsearch/README.md
+++ b/bitnami/elasticsearch/README.md
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ Non-root container images add an extra layer of security and are generally recom
 Learn more about the Bitnami tagging policy and the difference between rolling tags and immutable tags [in our documentation page](https://docs.bitnami.com/tutorials/understand-rolling-tags-containers/).
 
 
-* [`7`, `7-debian-10`, `7.12.0`, `7.12.0-debian-10-r12`, `latest` (7/debian-10/Dockerfile)](https://github.com/bitnami/bitnami-docker-elasticsearch/blob/7.12.0-debian-10-r12/7/debian-10/Dockerfile)
+* [`7`, `7-debian-10`, `7.12.0`, `7.12.0-debian-10-r13`, `latest` (7/debian-10/Dockerfile)](https://github.com/bitnami/bitnami-docker-elasticsearch/blob/7.12.0-debian-10-r13/7/debian-10/Dockerfile)
 * [`7.10.2`, `7.10.2-debian-10`, `7.10.2-debian-10-r81` (7.10.2/debian-10/Dockerfile)](https://github.com/bitnami/bitnami-docker-elasticsearch/blob/7.10.2-debian-10-r81/7.10.2/debian-10/Dockerfile)
 * [`6`, `6-debian-10`, `6.8.15`, `6.8.15-debian-10-r19` (6/debian-10/Dockerfile)](https://github.com/bitnami/bitnami-docker-elasticsearch/blob/6.8.15-debian-10-r19/6/debian-10/Dockerfile)
 
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ elasticsearch:
 
 > NOTE: As this is a non-root container, the mounted files and directories must have the proper permissions for the UID `1001`.
 
-It is also possible to use multiple volumes for data persistence by using the `ELASTICSEARCH_DATA_DIR_LIST`environment variable:
+It is also possible to use multiple volumes for data persistence by using the `ELASTICSEARCH_DATA_DIR_LIST` environment variable:
 
 ```yaml
 elasticsearch: