diff --git a/data/core/init.lua b/data/core/init.lua
index da24c930..819f26bd 100644
--- a/data/core/init.lua
+++ b/data/core/init.lua
@@ -877,7 +877,7 @@ end
 
 function core.on_error(err)
   -- write error to file
-  local fp = io.open(EXEDIR .. "/error.txt", "wb")
+  local fp = io.open(USERDIR .. "/error.txt", "wb")
   fp:write("Error: " .. tostring(err) .. "\n")
   fp:write(debug.traceback(nil, 4))
   fp:close()
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index ed02c11b..95f04840 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -63,11 +63,11 @@ static void init_window_icon(void) {
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #define LITE_OS_HOME "USERPROFILE"
 #define LITE_PATHSEP_PATTERN "\\\\"
-#define LITE_NONPATHSEP_PATTERN "[^\\\\]"
+#define LITE_NONPATHSEP_PATTERN "[^\\\\]+"
 #else
 #define LITE_OS_HOME "HOME"
 #define LITE_PATHSEP_PATTERN "/"
-#define LITE_NONPATHSEP_PATTERN "[^/]"
+#define LITE_NONPATHSEP_PATTERN "[^/]+"
 #endif
 
 int main(int argc, char **argv) {
@@ -127,23 +127,28 @@ init_lua:
     "local core\n"
     "xpcall(function()\n"
     "  HOME = os.getenv('" LITE_OS_HOME "')\n"
-    "  local exedir = EXEFILE:match(\"^(.+)" LITE_PATHSEP_PATTERN LITE_NONPATHSEP_PATTERN "+$\")\n"
-    "  local prefix = exedir:match(\"^(.+)" LITE_PATHSEP_PATTERN "bin$\")\n"
+    "  local exedir = EXEFILE:match(\"^(.*)" LITE_PATHSEP_PATTERN LITE_NONPATHSEP_PATTERN "$\")\n"
+    "  local prefix = exedir:match(\"^(.*)" LITE_PATHSEP_PATTERN "bin$\")\n"
     "  dofile((prefix and prefix .. '/share/lite-xl' or exedir .. '/data') .. '/core/start.lua')\n"
     "  core = require('core')\n"
     "  core.init()\n"
     "  core.run()\n"
     "end, function(err)\n"
-    "  system.show_fatal_error('Lite XL start error', '"
-    "Fatal error: cannot locate the data directory.\\n"
-    "Please verify that the data folder is available.')\n"
-    "  local fp = io.open((exedir and exedir .. '/' or '') .. 'error.txt', 'wb')\n"
-    "  fp:write('Error: ' .. tostring(err) .. '\\n')\n"
-    "  fp:write(debug.traceback(nil, 2) .. '\\n')\n"
-    "  fp:close()\n"
+    "  local error_dir\n"
+    "    print('ERROR', err)\n"
     "  if core and core.on_error then\n"
+    "    error_dir=USERDIR\n"
     "    pcall(core.on_error, err)\n"
+    "  else\n"
+    "    error_dir=system.absolute_path('.')\n"
+    "    local fp = io.open('error.txt', 'wb')\n"
+    "    fp:write('Error: ' .. tostring(err) .. '\\n')\n"
+    "    fp:write(debug.traceback(nil, 4))\n"
+    "    fp:close()\n"
     "  end\n"
+    "  system.show_fatal_error('Lite XL internal error',\n"
+    "    'An internal error occurred in a critical part of the application.\\n\\n'..\n"
+    "    'Please verify the file \\\"error.txt\\\" in the directory '..error_dir)\n"
     "  os.exit(1)\n"
     "end)\n"
     "return core and core.restart_request\n";