diff --git a/libgnome-desktop/gnome-languages.c b/libgnome-desktop/gnome-languages.c
index 2ec97a5..807866f 100644
--- a/libgnome-desktop/gnome-languages.c
+++ b/libgnome-desktop/gnome-languages.c
@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@
 #define __LC_LAST       13
 #endif
 
-#define ISO_CODES_DATADIR ISO_CODES_PREFIX "/share/xml/iso-codes"
-#define ISO_CODES_LOCALESDIR ISO_CODES_PREFIX "/share/locale"
+#define ISO_CODES_DATADIR "xml/iso-codes"
+#define ISO_CODES_LOCALESDIR "locale"
 
 #include "default-input-sources.h"
 
@@ -70,6 +70,9 @@ static char * construct_language_name (const char *language,
                                        const char *modifier);
 
 static gboolean language_name_is_valid (const char *language_name);
+static gchar * find_iso_codes_dir (const char *dir);
+static gchar * get_iso_codes_datadir (void);
+static gchar * get_iso_codes_localesdir (void);
 
 static void
 gnome_locale_free (GnomeLocale *locale)
@@ -964,11 +967,15 @@ languages_variant_init (const char *variant)
         gsize    buf_len;
         char    *filename;
 
-        bindtextdomain (variant, ISO_CODES_LOCALESDIR);
+        bindtextdomain (variant, get_iso_codes_localesdir());
         bind_textdomain_codeset (variant, "UTF-8");
 
         error = NULL;
-        filename = g_strdup_printf (ISO_CODES_DATADIR "/%s.xml", variant);
+        filename = g_strdup_printf (g_build_filename (get_iso_codes_datadir(),
+                                                      "%s.xml",
+                                                      NULL),
+                                    variant);
+
         res = g_file_get_contents (filename,
                                    &buf,
                                    &buf_len,
@@ -1020,17 +1027,19 @@ territories_init (void)
         gboolean res;
         char    *buf;
         gsize    buf_len;
+        gchar   *file;
 
         if (gnome_territories_map)
                 return;
 
-        bindtextdomain ("iso_3166", ISO_CODES_LOCALESDIR);
+        bindtextdomain ("iso_3166", get_iso_codes_localesdir());
         bind_textdomain_codeset ("iso_3166", "UTF-8");
 
         gnome_territories_map = g_hash_table_new_full (g_str_hash, g_str_equal, g_free, g_free);
 
         error = NULL;
-        res = g_file_get_contents (ISO_CODES_DATADIR "/iso_3166.xml",
+        file = g_build_filename (get_iso_codes_datadir(), "iso_3166.xml", NULL);
+        res = g_file_get_contents (file,
                                    &buf,
                                    &buf_len,
                                    &error);
@@ -1044,20 +1053,17 @@ territories_init (void)
                 res = g_markup_parse_context_parse (ctx, buf, buf_len, &error);
 
                 if (! res) {
-                        g_warning ("Failed to parse '%s': %s\n",
-                                   ISO_CODES_DATADIR "/iso_3166.xml",
-                                   error->message);
+                        g_warning ("Failed to parse '%s': %s\n", file, error->message);
                         g_error_free (error);
                 }
 
                 g_markup_parse_context_free (ctx);
                 g_free (buf);
         } else {
-                g_warning ("Failed to load '%s': %s\n",
-                           ISO_CODES_DATADIR "/iso_3166.xml",
-                           error->message);
+                g_warning ("Failed to load '%s': %s\n", file, error->message);
                 g_error_free (error);
         }
+        g_free(file);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -1395,3 +1401,36 @@ gnome_get_input_source_from_locale (const char  *locale,
 
         return dis != NULL;
 }
+
+static gchar *
+find_iso_codes_dir (const char *dir)
+{
+    const gchar* const *dirs;
+    gchar              *final_dir;
+
+    dirs = g_get_system_data_dirs ();
+
+    while (dirs[0] != NULL) {
+        final_dir = g_build_filename(dirs[0], dir, NULL);
+        if (g_file_test (final_dir, G_FILE_TEST_IS_DIR))
+            return final_dir;
+        dirs++;
+    }
+    return g_strdup_printf("%s/share/%s", ISO_CODES_PREFIX, dir);
+}
+
+static gchar *
+get_iso_codes_datadir (void)
+{
+    gchar *datadir;
+    datadir = find_iso_codes_dir(ISO_CODES_DATADIR);
+    return datadir;
+}
+
+static gchar *
+get_iso_codes_localesdir (void)
+{
+    gchar *localesdir;
+    localesdir = find_iso_codes_dir(ISO_CODES_LOCALESDIR);
+    return localesdir;
+}