diff --git a/src/history.cpp b/src/history.cpp
index 5d9528b20..6b4582128 100644
--- a/src/history.cpp
+++ b/src/history.cpp
@@ -388,8 +388,8 @@ static size_t offset_of_next_item_fish_2_0(const char *begin, size_t mmap_length
                 ! memcmp(line_start, "---", 3) ||
                 ! memcmp(line_start, "...", 3))
             continue;
-        
-        
+
+
         /* Hackish: fish 1.x rewriting a fish 2.0 history file can produce lines with lots of leading "- cmd: - cmd: - cmd:". Trim all but one leading "- cmd:". */
         const char *double_cmd = "- cmd: - cmd: ";
         const size_t double_cmd_len = strlen(double_cmd);
@@ -398,13 +398,13 @@ static size_t offset_of_next_item_fish_2_0(const char *begin, size_t mmap_length
             /* Skip over just one of the - cmd. In the end there will be just one left. */
             line_start += strlen("- cmd: ");
         }
-        
+
         /* Hackish: fish 1.x rewriting a fish 2.0 history file can produce commands like "when: 123456". Ignore those. */
         const char *cmd_when = "- cmd:    when:";
         const size_t cmd_when_len = strlen(cmd_when);
         if (newline - line_start >= cmd_when_len && ! memcmp(line_start, cmd_when, cmd_when_len))
             continue;
-        
+
 
         /* At this point, we know line_start is at the beginning of an item. But maybe we want to skip this item because of timestamps. A 0 cutoff means we don't care; if we do care, then try parsing out a timestamp. */
         if (cutoff_timestamp != 0)
@@ -733,7 +733,7 @@ history_item_t history_t::item_at_index(size_t idx)
     {
         resolved_new_item_count -= 1;
     }
-    
+
     /* idx=0 corresponds to the last resolved item */
     if (idx < resolved_new_item_count)
     {
@@ -816,7 +816,7 @@ history_item_t history_t::decode_item_fish_2_0(const char *base, size_t len)
 
     size_t indent = 0, cursor = 0;
     std::string key, value, line;
-    
+
     /* Read the "- cmd:" line */
     size_t advance = read_line(base, cursor, len, line);
     trim_leading_spaces(line);
@@ -824,7 +824,7 @@ history_item_t history_t::decode_item_fish_2_0(const char *base, size_t len)
     {
         goto done;
     }
-    
+
     cursor += advance;
     cmd = str2wcstring(value);
 
@@ -1275,7 +1275,7 @@ static void unescape_yaml(std::string *str)
 static wcstring history_filename(const wcstring &name, const wcstring &suffix)
 {
     wcstring path;
-    if (! path_get_config(path))
+    if (! path_get_data(path))
         return L"";
 
     wcstring result = path;
diff --git a/src/path.cpp b/src/path.cpp
index 62a31a635..b8cfd5165 100644
--- a/src/path.cpp
+++ b/src/path.cpp
@@ -276,6 +276,42 @@ static wcstring path_create_config()
     return res;
 }
 
+static wcstring path_create_data()
+{
+    bool done = false;
+    wcstring res;
+
+    const env_var_t xdg_dir  = env_get_string(L"XDG_DATA_HOME");
+    if (! xdg_dir.missing())
+    {
+        res = xdg_dir + L"/fish";
+        if (!create_directory(res))
+        {
+            done = true;
+        }
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        const env_var_t home = env_get_string(L"HOME");
+        if (! home.missing())
+        {
+            res = home + L"/.local/share/fish";
+            if (!create_directory(res))
+            {
+                done = true;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (! done)
+    {
+        res.clear();
+
+        debug(0, _(L"Unable to create a data directory for fish. Your history will not be saved. Please set the $XDG_DATA_HOME variable to a directory where the current user has write access."));
+    }
+    return res;
+}
+
 /* Cache the config path */
 bool path_get_config(wcstring &path)
 {
@@ -284,6 +320,14 @@ bool path_get_config(wcstring &path)
     return ! result.empty();
 }
 
+/* Cache the data path */
+bool path_get_data(wcstring &path)
+{
+    static const wcstring result = path_create_data();
+    path = result;
+    return ! result.empty();
+}
+
 __attribute__((unused))
 static void replace_all(wcstring &str, const wchar_t *needle, const wchar_t *replacement)
 {
diff --git a/src/path.h b/src/path.h
index eb79ee8a1..973e8a3ae 100644
--- a/src/path.h
+++ b/src/path.h
@@ -20,13 +20,26 @@
 
 /**
    Returns the user configuration directory for fish. If the directory
-   or one of it's parents doesn't exist, they are first created.
+   or one of its parents doesn't exist, they are first created.
 
    \param path The directory as an out param
    \return whether the directory was returned successfully
 */
 bool path_get_config(wcstring &path);
 
+/**
+   Returns the user data directory for fish. If the directory
+   or one of its parents doesn't exist, they are first created.
+
+   Volatile files presumed to be local to the machine,
+   such as the fish_history and all the generated_completions,
+   will be stored in this directory.
+
+   \param path The directory as an out param
+   \return whether the directory was returned successfully
+*/
+bool path_get_data(wcstring &path);
+
 /**
    Finds the full path of an executable. Returns YES if successful.