diff --git a/rtgui/main-cli.cc b/rtgui/main-cli.cc
index 36ef4ce8b..67ec895aa 100644
--- a/rtgui/main-cli.cc
+++ b/rtgui/main-cli.cc
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ Glib::ustring argv0;
 Glib::ustring creditsPath;
 Glib::ustring licensePath;
 Glib::ustring argv1;
+Glib::ustring lensfunDbPath;
 //bool simpleEditor;
 //Glib::Threads::Thread* mainThread;
 
@@ -145,10 +146,17 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
         licensePath = Glib::build_filename (exePath, LICENCE_SEARCH_PATH);
     }
 
+    if (Glib::path_is_absolute(LENSFUN_DB_PATH)) {
+        lensfunDbPath = LENSFUN_DB_PATH;
+    } else {
+        lensfunDbPath = Glib::build_filename(exePath, LENSFUN_DB_PATH);
+    }
+
 #else
     argv0 = DATA_SEARCH_PATH;
     creditsPath = CREDITS_SEARCH_PATH;
     licensePath = LICENCE_SEARCH_PATH;
+    lensfunDbPath = LENSFUN_DB_PATH;
 #endif
 
     bool quickstart = dontLoadCache (argc, argv);
diff --git a/rtgui/main.cc b/rtgui/main.cc
index f85cb6084..9adca05d4 100644
--- a/rtgui/main.cc
+++ b/rtgui/main.cc
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ extern Options options;
 Glib::ustring argv0;
 Glib::ustring creditsPath;
 Glib::ustring licensePath;
+Glib::ustring lensfunDbPath;
 Glib::ustring argv1;
 Glib::ustring argv2;
 bool simpleEditor = false;
@@ -529,10 +530,17 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
         licensePath = Glib::build_filename (exePath, LICENCE_SEARCH_PATH);
     }
 
+    if (Glib::path_is_absolute (LENSFUN_DB_PATH)) {
+        lensfunDbPath = LENSFUN_DB_PATH;
+    } else {
+        lensfunDbPath = Glib::build_filename (exePath, LENSFUN_DB_PATH);
+    }
+    
 #else
     argv0 = DATA_SEARCH_PATH;
     creditsPath = CREDITS_SEARCH_PATH;
     licensePath = LICENCE_SEARCH_PATH;
+    lensfunDbPath = LENSFUN_DB_PATH;
 #endif
 
 
diff --git a/rtgui/options.cc b/rtgui/options.cc
index c2e2b586b..fb84082f0 100644
--- a/rtgui/options.cc
+++ b/rtgui/options.cc
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@
 #include "addsetids.h"
 #include "guiutils.h"
 #include "version.h"
-#include "config.h"
 
 #ifdef _OPENMP
 #include <omp.h>
@@ -50,6 +49,8 @@ Options options;
 Glib::ustring versionString = RTVERSION;
 Glib::ustring paramFileExtension = ".pp3";
 
+extern Glib::ustring lensfunDbPath; // defined in main
+
 Options::Options ()
 {
 
@@ -729,7 +730,7 @@ void Options::setDefaults ()
     gimpPluginShowInfoDialog = true;
     maxRecentFolders = 15;
 
-    rtSettings.lensfunDbDirectory = LENSFUN_DB_PATH;
+    rtSettings.lensfunDbDirectory = lensfunDbPath;
 }
 
 Options* Options::copyFrom (Options* other)