diff --git a/src/common.h b/src/common.h
index 538763ec..6431bf44 100644
--- a/src/common.h
+++ b/src/common.h
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 #ifndef IRSSI_COMMON_H
 #define IRSSI_COMMON_H
 
+#define IRSSI_DIR_FULL "%s/.irssi" /* %s = g_get_home_dir() */
+
 #define IRSSI_GLOBAL_CONFIG "irssi.conf" /* config file name in /etc/ */
 #define IRSSI_HOME_CONFIG "config" /* config file name in ~/.irssi/ */
 
diff --git a/src/core/core.c b/src/core/core.c
index b3068963..13f67f20 100644
--- a/src/core/core.c
+++ b/src/core/core.c
@@ -65,22 +65,23 @@ void log_away_deinit(void);
 void wcwidth_wrapper_init(void);
 void wcwidth_wrapper_deinit(void);
 
+int xdg_support;
 int irssi_gui;
 int irssi_init_finished;
 int sighup_received;
 time_t client_start_time;
 
-static char *irssi_dir, *irssi_xdg_dir, *irssi_config_file;
+static char *irssi_dir, *irssi_config_file;
 static GSList *dialog_type_queue, *dialog_text_queue;
 
+int is_xdg_supported()
+{
+	return xdg_support;
+}
+
 const char *get_irssi_dir(void)
 {
-        return irssi_dir;
-}
-
-const char *get_irssi_xdg_dir(void)
-{
-	return irssi_xdg_dir;
+	return (xdg_support = 1) ? irssi_xdg_dir : irssi_dir;
 }
 
 /* return full path for ~/.irssi/config */
@@ -194,19 +195,26 @@ void core_register_options(void)
 
 void core_preinit(const char *path)
 {
+	struct stat statbuf;
+	const char *home;
 	char *str;
 	int len;
-	const char *home;
 
 	if (irssi_dir == NULL) {
-	   irssi_dir = g_build_filename(g_get_user_config_dir(), "irssi", NULL);
-	   if (g_file_test(irssi_dir, G_FILE_TEST_IS_DIR) == FALSE) {
-		   home = ".";
-		   g_free(irssi_dir);
+		/* check if %XDG_CONFIG_HOME/irssi exists and default to it */
+		char *dirp = g_build_filename(g_get_user_config_dir(), "irssi", NULL);
+		if (stat(dirp, &statbuf) == 0) {
+			xdg_support = 1;
+			irssi_dir = dirp;
+		} else { /* fallback to non-xdg location */
+			g_free(dirp);
+			home = g_get_home_dir();
+			if (home == NULL)
+				home = ".";
 
-		   home = g_get_home_dir();
-		   irssi_dir = g_build_filename(home ? home : ".", ".irssi", NULL);
-	   }
+			irssi_dir = g_strdup_printf(IRSSI_DIR_FULL, home);
+			xdg_support = 0;
+		}
 	} else {
 	   str = irssi_dir;
 	   irssi_dir = fix_path(str);
@@ -216,7 +224,10 @@ void core_preinit(const char *path)
 	      irssi_dir[len-1] = '\0';
 	}
 	if (irssi_config_file == NULL)
-	   irssi_config_file = g_build_filename(irssi_dir, IRSSI_HOME_CONFIG, NULL);
+		if (is_xdg_supported())
+			irssi_config_file = g_build_filename(irssi_dir, IRSSI_HOME_CONFIG, NULL);
+		else
+			irssi_config_file = g_strdup_printf("%s/" IRSSI_HOME_CONFIG, irssi_dir);
 	else {
 		str = irssi_config_file;
 		irssi_config_file = fix_path(str);
diff --git a/src/perl/common/Core.xs b/src/perl/common/Core.xs
index 7ae18943..38755616 100644
--- a/src/perl/common/Core.xs
+++ b/src/perl/common/Core.xs
@@ -599,6 +599,13 @@ PPCODE:
 	XPUSHs(sv_2mortal(new_pv(ret)));
 	g_free_not_null(ret);
 
+bool
+is_xdg_supported()
+CODE:
+	RETVAL = (bool) is_xdg_supported();
+OUTPUT:
+	RETVAL
+
 char *
 get_irssi_dir()
 CODE:
diff --git a/src/perl/perl-core.c b/src/perl/perl-core.c
index 3947d5a8..187eab1a 100644
--- a/src/perl/perl-core.c
+++ b/src/perl/perl-core.c
@@ -390,43 +390,24 @@ char *perl_script_get_path(const char *name)
 	file = IS_PERL_SCRIPT(name) ? g_strdup(name) :
 		g_strdup_printf("%s.pl", name);
 
-	/* check from %XDG_DATA_HOME% */
-	path = g_build_filename(g_get_user_data_dir(), "irssi/scripts/", file, NULL);
-	if (stat(path, &statbuf) != 0) {
-		g_free(path);
-		path = g_strdup_printf(SCRIPTDIR"/%s", file);
+	/* check if xdg paths are being used, if so locate scripts based on that */
+	if (is_xdg_supported()) {
+		path = g_build_filename(g_get_user_data_dir(), "irssi", "scripts", file, NULL);
 		if (stat(path, &statbuf) != 0) {
 			g_free(path);
 			path = NULL;
-		} else {
-			g_free(file);
-			return path;
 		}
-	}
-
-	/* check from %XDG_CONFIG_HOME% */
-	path = g_build_filename(g_get_user_config_dir(), "irssi/scripts/", file, NULL);
-	if (stat(path, &statbuf) != 0) {
-		g_free(path);
-		path = g_strdup_printf(SCRIPTDIR"/%s", file);
+	} else {
+		/* check from ~/.irssi/scripts/ */
+		path = g_strdup_printf("%s/scripts/%s", get_irssi_dir(), file);
 		if (stat(path, &statbuf) != 0) {
+			/* check from SCRIPTDIR */
 			g_free(path);
-			path = NULL;
-		} else {
-			g_free(file);
-			return path;
-		}
-	}
-
-	/* check from ~/.irssi/scripts/ */
-	path = g_strdup_printf("%s/scripts/%s", get_irssi_dir(), file);
-	if (stat(path, &statbuf) != 0) {
-		/* check from SCRIPTDIR */
-		g_free(path);
-		path = g_strdup_printf(SCRIPTDIR"/%s", file);
-		if (stat(path, &statbuf) != 0) {
-			g_free(path);
-			path = NULL;
+			path = g_strdup_printf(SCRIPTDIR "/%s", file);
+			if (stat(path, &statbuf) != 0) {
+				g_free(path);
+				path = NULL;
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	g_free(file);
@@ -452,8 +433,10 @@ void perl_scripts_autorun(void)
 	struct stat statbuf;
 	char *path, *fname;
 
-        /* run *.pl scripts from ~/.irssi/scripts/autorun/ */
-	path = g_strdup_printf("%s/scripts/autorun", get_irssi_dir());
+	if (is_xdg_supported())
+		path = g_build_filename(g_get_user_data_dir(), "irssi", "scripts", "autorun", NULL);
+	else
+		path = g_strdup_printf("%s/scripts/autorun", get_irssi_dir());
 	dirp = opendir(path);
 	if (dirp == NULL) {
 		g_free(path);