diff --git a/data/core/start.lua b/data/core/start.lua
index 513fda22..3ef806cc 100644
--- a/data/core/start.lua
+++ b/data/core/start.lua
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ else
   local prefix = EXEDIR:match("^(.+)[/\\]bin$")
   DATADIR = prefix and (prefix .. '/share/lite-xl') or (EXEDIR .. '/data')
 end
-USERDIR = HOME and (HOME .. '/.config/lite-xl') or (EXEDIR .. '/user')
+USERDIR = os.getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME") or (HOME and (HOME .. '/.config/lite-xl') or (EXEDIR .. '/user'))
 
 package.path = DATADIR .. '/?.lua;' .. package.path
 package.path = DATADIR .. '/?/init.lua;' .. package.path