diff --git a/env.cpp b/env.cpp
index b17df3865..0318cd85d 100644
--- a/env.cpp
+++ b/env.cpp
@@ -70,6 +70,12 @@
 */
 #define ENV_NULL L"\x1d"
 
+/** Some configuration path environment variables */
+#define FISH_DATADIR_VAR L"__fish_datadir"
+#define FISH_SYSCONFDIR_VAR L"__fish_sysconfdir"
+#define FISH_HELPDIR_VAR L"__fish_help_dir"
+#define FISH_BIN_DIR L"__fish_bin_dir"
+
 /**
    At init, we read all the environment variables from this array.
 */
@@ -235,8 +241,21 @@ static void start_fishd()
 		debug( 0, _( L"Could not get user information" ) );
 		return;
 	}
-	
-    wcstring cmd = format_string(FISHD_CMD, pw->pw_name);	
+    
+    wcstring cmd = format_string(FISHD_CMD, pw->pw_name);
+    
+    /* Prefer the fishd in __fish_bin_dir, if exists */
+    const env_var_t bin_dir = env_get_string(L"__fish_bin_dir");
+    if (! bin_dir.missing_or_empty())
+    {
+        wcstring path = bin_dir + L"/fishd";
+        if (waccess(path, X_OK) == 0)
+        {
+            /* The path command just looks like 'fishd', so insert the bin path to make it absolute */
+            cmd.insert(0, bin_dir + L"/");
+        }
+    }
+    
     parser_t &parser = parser_t::principal_parser();
 	parser.eval( cmd, 0, TOP );
 }
@@ -510,7 +529,7 @@ static bool variable_can_be_array(const wchar_t *key) {
     }
 }
 
-void env_init()
+void env_init(const struct config_paths_t *paths /* or NULL */)
 {
 	char **p;
 	struct passwd *pw;
@@ -560,7 +579,7 @@ void env_init()
 	  Now the environemnt variable handling is set up, the next step
 	  is to insert valid data
 	*/
-	
+	    
 	/*
 	  Import environment variables
 	*/
@@ -600,6 +619,15 @@ void env_init()
 		free(key);
 	}
 	
+    /* Set the given paths in the environment, if we have any */
+    if (paths != NULL)
+    {
+        env_set(FISH_DATADIR_VAR, paths->data.c_str(), ENV_GLOBAL | ENV_EXPORT);
+        env_set(FISH_SYSCONFDIR_VAR, paths->sysconf.c_str(), ENV_GLOBAL | ENV_EXPORT);
+        env_set(FISH_HELPDIR_VAR, paths->doc.c_str(), ENV_GLOBAL | ENV_EXPORT);
+        env_set(FISH_BIN_DIR, paths->bin.c_str(), ENV_GLOBAL | ENV_EXPORT);
+    }
+    
 	/*
 	  Set up the PATH variable
 	*/
diff --git a/env.h b/env.h
index 63e834dac..a687a1aa3 100644
--- a/env.h
+++ b/env.h
@@ -52,11 +52,20 @@ enum{
 }
 ;
 
+/* A struct of configuration directories, determined in main() that fish will optionally pass to env_init.
+ */
+struct config_paths_t
+{
+    wcstring data;      // e.g. /usr/local/share
+    wcstring sysconf;   // e.g. /usr/local/etc
+    wcstring doc;       // e.g. /usr/local/share/doc/fish
+    wcstring bin;       // e.g. /usr/local/bin
+};
 
 /**
    Initialize environment variable data
 */
-void env_init();
+void env_init(const struct config_paths_t *paths = NULL);
 
 /**
    Destroy environment variable data
@@ -164,6 +173,8 @@ void env_export_arr(bool recalc, null_terminated_array_t<char> &result);
 */
 wcstring_list_t env_get_names( int flags );
 
+
+
 /**
    Update the PWD variable
    directory
diff --git a/fish.cpp b/fish.cpp
index b46317efd..3924f96ea 100644
--- a/fish.cpp
+++ b/fish.cpp
@@ -130,15 +130,6 @@ static std::string get_executable_path(const char *argv0)
     return std::string(argv0 ? argv0 : "");
 }
 
-/* A struct of configuration directories.
- */
-struct config_paths_t
-{
-    wcstring data;      // e.g. /usr/local/share
-    wcstring sysconf;   // e.g. /usr/local/etc
-    wcstring doc;       // e.g. /usr/local/share/doc/fish
-    wcstring bin;       // e.g. /usr/local/bin
-};
 
 static struct config_paths_t determine_config_directory_paths(const char *argv0)
 {
@@ -216,12 +207,6 @@ static struct config_paths_t determine_config_directory_paths(const char *argv0)
         done = true;
     }
     
-    /* Set the results in the environment */
-    env_set(L"__fish_datadir", paths.data.c_str(), ENV_GLOBAL | ENV_EXPORT);
-    env_set(L"__fish_sysconfdir", paths.sysconf.c_str(), ENV_GLOBAL | ENV_EXPORT);
-    env_set(L"__fish_help_dir", paths.doc.c_str(), ENV_GLOBAL | ENV_EXPORT);
-    env_set(L"__fish_bin_dir", paths.bin.c_str(), ENV_GLOBAL | ENV_EXPORT);
-    
     return paths;
 }
 
@@ -450,6 +435,8 @@ int main( int argc, char **argv )
 		debug( 1, _(L"Can not use the no-execute mode when running an interactive session") );
 		no_exec = 0;
 	}
+    
+	const struct config_paths_t paths = determine_config_directory_paths(argv[0]);
     	
 	proc_init();	
 	event_init();	
@@ -457,7 +444,7 @@ int main( int argc, char **argv )
 	//parser_init();
 	builtin_init();
 	function_init();
-	env_init();
+	env_init(&paths);
 	reader_init();
 	history_init();
 
@@ -466,8 +453,6 @@ int main( int argc, char **argv )
     if (g_log_forks)
         printf("%d: g_fork_count: %d\n", __LINE__, g_fork_count);
 
-    /* Determine config paths */
-    const struct config_paths_t paths = determine_config_directory_paths(argv[0]);
 	if( read_init(paths) )
 	{
 		if( cmd != 0 )