diff --git a/apps/emqx_exhook/src/emqx_exhook_api.erl b/apps/emqx_exhook/src/emqx_exhook_api.erl
index 921a4df68..6676c4503 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_exhook/src/emqx_exhook_api.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_exhook/src/emqx_exhook_api.erl
@@ -219,9 +219,9 @@ params_server_name_in_path() ->
 server_conf_schema() ->
     SSL = #{
         enable => false,
-        cacertfile => emqx:cert_file(<<"cacert.pem">>),
-        certfile => emqx:cert_file(<<"cert.pem">>),
-        keyfile => emqx:cert_file(<<"key.pem">>)
+        cacertfile => <<"/etc/emqx/certs/cacert.pem">>,
+        certfile => <<"/etc/emqx/certs/cert.pem">>,
+        keyfile => <<"/etc/emqx/certs/key.pem">>
     },
     schema_with_example(
         ref(server_config),
diff --git a/apps/emqx_gateway/src/emqx_gateway_api.erl b/apps/emqx_gateway/src/emqx_gateway_api.erl
index 87301e34f..5fbca8b7b 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_gateway/src/emqx_gateway_api.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_gateway/src/emqx_gateway_api.erl
@@ -686,7 +686,7 @@ examples_gateway_confs() ->
                         enable_stats => true,
                         idle_timeout => <<"30s">>,
                         mountpoint => <<"lwm2m/">>,
-                        xml_dir => emqx:etc_file(<<"lwm2m_xml">>),
+                        xml_dir => <<"/etc/emqx/lwm2m_xml">>,
                         lifetime_min => <<"1s">>,
                         lifetime_max => <<"86400s">>,
                         qmode_time_window => <<"22s">>,
@@ -805,7 +805,7 @@ examples_update_gateway_confs() ->
                         enable_stats => true,
                         idle_timeout => <<"30s">>,
                         mountpoint => <<"lwm2m2/">>,
-                        xml_dir => emqx:etc_file(<<"lwm2m_xml">>),
+                        xml_dir => <<"/etc/emqx/lwm2m_xml">>,
                         lifetime_min => <<"1s">>,
                         lifetime_max => <<"86400s">>,
                         qmode_time_window => <<"22s">>,
diff --git a/apps/emqx_gateway/src/emqx_gateway_api_listeners.erl b/apps/emqx_gateway/src/emqx_gateway_api_listeners.erl
index 4e4e2be38..08bf37a47 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_gateway/src/emqx_gateway_api_listeners.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_gateway/src/emqx_gateway_api_listeners.erl
@@ -756,9 +756,9 @@ examples_listener() ->
                                     <<"tlsv1.1">>,
                                     <<"tlsv1">>
                                 ],
-                                cacertfile => emqx:cert_file(<<"cacert.pem">>),
-                                certfile => emqx:cert_file(<<"cert.pem">>),
-                                keyfile => emqx:cert_file(<<"key.pem">>),
+                                cacertfile => <<"/etc/emqx/certs/cacert.pem">>,
+                                certfile => <<"/etc/emqx/certs/cert.pem">>,
+                                keyfile => <<"/etc/emqx/certs/key.pem">>,
                                 verify => <<"verify_none">>,
                                 fail_if_no_peer_cert => false
                             },
@@ -802,9 +802,9 @@ examples_listener() ->
                         dtls_options =>
                             #{
                                 versions => [<<"dtlsv1.2">>, <<"dtlsv1">>],
-                                cacertfile => emqx:cert_file(<<"cacert.pem">>),
-                                certfile => emqx:cert_file(<<"cert.pem">>),
-                                keyfile => emqx:cert_file(<<"key.pem">>),
+                                cacertfile => <<"/etc/emqx/certs/cacert.pem">>,
+                                certfile => <<"/etc/emqx/certs/cert.pem">>,
+                                keyfile => <<"/etc/emqx/certs/key.pem">>,
                                 verify => <<"verify_none">>,
                                 fail_if_no_peer_cert => false
                             },
@@ -829,9 +829,9 @@ examples_listener() ->
                         dtls_options =>
                             #{
                                 versions => [<<"dtlsv1.2">>, <<"dtlsv1">>],
-                                cacertfile => emqx:cert_file(<<"cacert.pem">>),
-                                certfile => emqx:cert_file(<<"cert.pem">>),
-                                keyfile => emqx:cert_file(<<"key.pem">>),
+                                cacertfile => <<"/etc/emqx/certs/cacert.pem">>,
+                                certfile => <<"/etc/emqx/certs/cert.pem">>,
+                                keyfile => <<"/etc/emqx/certs/key.pem">>,
                                 verify => <<"verify_none">>,
                                 user_lookup_fun => <<"emqx_tls_psk:lookup">>,
                                 ciphers =>
diff --git a/apps/emqx_gateway/src/emqx_gateway_schema.erl b/apps/emqx_gateway/src/emqx_gateway_schema.erl
index e5d6dd52a..c58d2f74c 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_gateway/src/emqx_gateway_schema.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_gateway/src/emqx_gateway_schema.erl
@@ -250,7 +250,12 @@ fields(lwm2m) ->
             sc(
                 binary(),
                 #{
-                    default => emqx:etc_file("lwm2m_xml"),
+                    %% since this is not packaged with emqx, nor
+                    %% present in the packages, we must let the user
+                    %% specify it rather than creating a dynamic
+                    %% default (especially difficult to handle when
+                    %% generating docs).
+                    example => <<"/etc/emqx/lwm2m_xml">>,
                     required => true,
                     desc => ?DESC(lwm2m_xml_dir)
                 }