diff --git a/src/common.h b/src/common.h
index 6431bf44..88e9b1f4 100644
--- a/src/common.h
+++ b/src/common.h
@@ -55,9 +55,11 @@ int g_input_add(GIOChannel *source, int condition,
 int g_input_add_full(GIOChannel *source, int priority, int condition,
 		     GInputFunction function, void *data);
 
-/* return full path for ~/.irssi */
+/* return if xdg is being used */
+int is_xdg_supported();
+/* return full path for irssi folder */
 const char *get_irssi_dir(void);
-/* return full path for ~/.irssi/config */
+/* return full path for irssi config */
 const char *get_irssi_config(void);
 
 /* max. size for %d */
diff --git a/src/core/core.c b/src/core/core.c
index 13f67f20..5c6a98de 100644
--- a/src/core/core.c
+++ b/src/core/core.c
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ int is_xdg_supported()
 
 const char *get_irssi_dir(void)
 {
-	return (xdg_support = 1) ? irssi_xdg_dir : irssi_dir;
+	return irssi_dir;
 }
 
 /* return full path for ~/.irssi/config */
diff --git a/src/fe-common/core/fe-common-core.c b/src/fe-common/core/fe-common-core.c
index c7cdd995..b5ce8b6b 100644
--- a/src/fe-common/core/fe-common-core.c
+++ b/src/fe-common/core/fe-common-core.c
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@ static void autorun_startup(void)
 	GString *buf;
 	gsize tpos;
 
-	/* open ~/.irssi/startup and run all commands in it */
+	/* open $CONFIG/startup and run all commands in it */
 	path = g_strdup_printf("%s/startup", get_irssi_dir());
 	handle = g_io_channel_new_file(path, "r", NULL);
 	g_free(path);
diff --git a/src/fe-common/core/themes.c b/src/fe-common/core/themes.c
index ff737c41..e5f11008 100644
--- a/src/fe-common/core/themes.c
+++ b/src/fe-common/core/themes.c
@@ -932,7 +932,11 @@ THEME_REC *theme_load(const char *setname)
 	theme = theme_find(name);
 
 	/* check home dir */
-	fname = g_strdup_printf("%s/%s.theme", get_irssi_dir(), name);
+	if (is_xdg_supported())
+		fname = g_build_filename(g_get_user_data_dir(), "irssi",
+		                         g_strdup_printf("%s.theme", name), NULL);
+	else
+		fname = g_strdup_printf("%s/%s.theme", get_irssi_dir(), name);
 	if (stat(fname, &statbuf) != 0) {
 		/* check global config dir */
 		g_free(fname);
@@ -1256,8 +1260,11 @@ static void theme_save(THEME_REC *theme, int save_all)
 	g_hash_table_foreach(theme->modules, (GHFunc) module_save, &data);
 
 	basename = g_path_get_basename(theme->path);
-        /* always save the theme to ~/.irssi/ */
-	path = g_strdup_printf("%s/%s", get_irssi_dir(), basename);
+	/* always save the theme */
+	if (is_xdg_supported())
+		path = g_build_filename(g_get_user_data_dir(), "irssi", basename, NULL);
+	else
+		path = g_strdup_printf("%s/%s", get_irssi_dir(), basename);
 	ok = config_write(config, path, 0660) == 0;
 	g_free(basename);
 
@@ -1413,7 +1420,10 @@ void themes_reload(void)
 	/* first there's default theme.. */
 	current_theme = theme_load("default");
 	if (current_theme == NULL) {
-		fname = g_strdup_printf("%s/default.theme", get_irssi_dir());
+		if (is_xdg_supported())
+			fname = g_build_filename(g_get_user_data_dir(), "irssi", "default.theme");
+		else
+			fname = g_strdup_printf("%s/default.theme", get_irssi_dir());
 		current_theme = theme_create(fname, "default");
 		current_theme->default_color = -1;
                 theme_read(current_theme, NULL);