diff --git a/autonomy/cli/deploy.py b/autonomy/cli/deploy.py
index c0b8d6c00a..b68e5aec75 100644
--- a/autonomy/cli/deploy.py
+++ b/autonomy/cli/deploy.py
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ def _validate_packages_path(path: Optional[Path] = None) -> Path:
     )
 
 
-def _validate_open_aea_dir(path: Optional[Path] = None) -> None:
+def _validate_open_aea_dir(path: Optional[Path] = None) -> Path:
     """Validate open-aea directory."""
     path = Path(path or Path(AEA_DIR).parent).resolve()
     for child in ("aea", "plugins", "setup.py"):
diff --git a/autonomy/deploy/base.py b/autonomy/deploy/base.py
index 54c12d0d5c..2515077851 100644
--- a/autonomy/deploy/base.py
+++ b/autonomy/deploy/base.py
@@ -751,8 +751,8 @@ class BaseDeploymentGenerator(abc.ABC):  # pylint: disable=too-many-instance-att
     dev_mode: bool
     use_tm_testnet_setup: bool
 
-    packages_dir: Path
-    open_aea_dir: Path
+    packages_dir: Optional[Path]
+    open_aea_dir: Optional[Path]
     resources: Resources
 
     def __init__(  # pylint: disable=too-many-arguments
diff --git a/autonomy/deploy/generators/docker_compose/base.py b/autonomy/deploy/generators/docker_compose/base.py
index 0010ce0061..77c7f5c8ab 100644
--- a/autonomy/deploy/generators/docker_compose/base.py
+++ b/autonomy/deploy/generators/docker_compose/base.py
@@ -137,8 +137,8 @@ def build_agent_config(  # pylint: disable=too-many-arguments,too-many-locals
     network_name: str,
     network_address: str,
     dev_mode: bool = False,
-    package_dir: Path = DEFAULT_PACKAGES_PATH,
-    open_aea_dir: Path = DEFAULT_OPEN_AEA_DIR,
+    package_dir: Optional[Path] = None,
+    open_aea_dir: Optional[Path] = None,
     agent_ports: Optional[Dict[int, int]] = None,
     extra_volumes: Optional[Dict[str, str]] = None,
     resources: Optional[Resources] = None,