diff --git a/fish.cpp b/fish.cpp
index 57d268d72..77686195a 100644
--- a/fish.cpp
+++ b/fish.cpp
@@ -187,11 +187,16 @@ static struct config_paths_t determine_config_directory_paths(const char *argv0)
                 paths.sysconf = base_path + L"/etc/fish";
                 paths.doc = base_path + L"/share/doc/fish";
                 paths.bin = base_path + L"/bin";
-
+                
+                /* Check only that the data and sysconf directories exist. Handle the doc directories separately */
                 struct stat buf;
-                if (0 == wstat(paths.data, &buf) && 0 == wstat(paths.sysconf, &buf) &&
-                        0 == wstat(paths.doc, &buf))
+                if (0 == wstat(paths.data, &buf) && 0 == wstat(paths.sysconf, &buf))
                 {
+                    /* The docs dir may not exist; in that case fall back to the compiled in path */
+                    if (0 != wstat(paths.doc, &buf))
+                    {
+                        paths.doc = L"" DOCDIR;
+                    }
                     done = true;
                 }
             }