diff --git a/src/core/core.c b/src/core/core.c
index a13760c4..0a38699a 100644
--- a/src/core/core.c
+++ b/src/core/core.c
@@ -218,11 +218,11 @@ void core_preinit(const char *path)
 		char *dirp = g_build_filename(g_get_user_config_dir(), "irssi", NULL);
 		if (!g_file_test(dirp, G_FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) {
 			use_xdg = 1;
-			irssi_dir = g_build_filename(g_get_user_data_dir(), "irssi", NULL);
-			irssi_config_dir = g_build_filename(g_get_user_config_dir(), "irssi", NULL);
-			irssi_cache_dir = g_build_filename(g_get_user_cache_dir(), "irssi", NULL);
+			irssi_dir = g_strdup_printf("%s/irssi", g_get_user_data_dir());
+			irssi_config_dir = g_strdup_printf("%s/irssi", g_get_user_config_dir());
+			irssi_cache_dir = g_strdup_printf("%s/irssi", g_get_user_cache_dir());
 			irssi_runtime_dir =
-			    g_build_filename(g_get_user_runtime_dir(), "irssi", NULL);
+			    g_strdup_printf("%s/irssi", g_get_user_runtime_dir(), "irssi", NULL);
 		} else { /* fallback to non-xdg location */
 			home = g_get_home_dir();
 			if (home == NULL)