1diff --git a/gnome-panel/gp-module-manager.c b/gnome-panel/gp-module-manager.c
2index 58447fd84..7af99de7d 100644
3--- a/gnome-panel/gp-module-manager.c
4+++ b/gnome-panel/gp-module-manager.c
5@@ -49,8 +49,16 @@ load_modules (GpModuleManager *self)
6 {
7 GDir *dir;
8 const gchar *name;
9+ const gchar *modules_dir;
10
11- dir = g_dir_open (MODULESDIR, 0, NULL);
12+ modules_dir = g_getenv ("NIX_GNOME_PANEL_MODULESDIR");
13+
14+ if (!modules_dir) {
15+ g_warning ("The NIX_GNOME_PANEL_MODULESDIR environment variable was not set, modules will not be loaded.");
16+ return;
17+ }
18+
19+ dir = g_dir_open (modules_dir, 0, NULL);
20 if (!dir)
21 return;
22
23@@ -63,7 +71,7 @@ load_modules (GpModuleManager *self)
24 if (!g_str_has_suffix (name, ".so"))
25 continue;
26
27- path = g_build_filename (MODULESDIR, name, NULL);
28+ path = g_build_filename (modules_dir, name, NULL);
29 module = gp_module_new_from_path (path);
30 g_free (path);
31