diff --git a/scripts/start-deployPaper b/scripts/start-deployPaper
index ac40ccaa..cb594f0b 100755
--- a/scripts/start-deployPaper
+++ b/scripts/start-deployPaper
@@ -43,10 +43,10 @@ else
 fi
 
 # Download default configs to allow for consistent patching
-for c in paper-global.yml paper-world-defaults.yml spigot.yml; do
-  DOWNLOAD_DEFAULT_CONFIGS+=",${PAPER_CONFIG_DEFAULTS_REPO}/${VERSION}/$c"
-done
+DOWNLOAD_DEFAULT_CONFIGS=$(buildDownloadList "$PAPER_CONFIG_DEFAULTS_REPO" "$VERSION" paper-global.yml paper-world-defaults.yml)
 export DOWNLOAD_DEFAULT_CONFIGS
+DOWNLOAD_DEFAULTS=$(buildDownloadList "$PAPER_CONFIG_DEFAULTS_REPO" "$VERSION" spigot.yml)
+export DOWNLOAD_DEFAULTS
 
 # Normalize on Spigot for downstream operations
 export FAMILY=SPIGOT
diff --git a/scripts/start-setupEnvVariables b/scripts/start-setupEnvVariables
index be6d6343..38518170 100755
--- a/scripts/start-setupEnvVariables
+++ b/scripts/start-setupEnvVariables
@@ -36,6 +36,15 @@ if [[ $DOWNLOAD_DEFAULT_CONFIGS ]]; then
     logWarning "One or more default config files were not available from $DOWNLOAD_DEFAULT_CONFIGS"
   fi
 fi
+if [[ $DOWNLOAD_DEFAULTS ]]; then
+  log "Downloading default top-level configs, if needed"
+  if ! mc-image-helper mcopy \
+    --to /data \
+    --skip-existing --skip-up-to-date=false \
+    "$DOWNLOAD_DEFAULTS" 2> /dev/null; then
+    logWarning "One or more default files were not available from $DOWNLOAD_DEFAULTS"
+  fi
+fi
 
 if [[ ${PATCH_DEFINITIONS} ]]; then
   log "Applying patch definitions from ${PATCH_DEFINITIONS}"
diff --git a/scripts/start-utils b/scripts/start-utils
index 003355ff..a8f27016 100755
--- a/scripts/start-utils
+++ b/scripts/start-utils
@@ -513,3 +513,17 @@ function ensureRemoveAllModsOff() {
     REMOVE_OLD_MODS=false
   fi
 }
+
+function buildDownloadList() {
+  repoUrl=${1?}
+  version=${2?}
+  shift 2
+  result=
+  for c in "${@}"; do
+    if [[ $result ]]; then
+      result+=","
+    fi
+    result+="${repoUrl}/${version}/$c"
+  done
+  echo "$result"
+}
\ No newline at end of file