diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/Game.cs b/OpenRA.Game/Game.cs
index 270ef59653..d0f3c490f8 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/Game.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/Game.cs
@@ -249,10 +249,10 @@ namespace OpenRA
 			// Special case handling of Game.Mod argument: if it matches a real filesystem path
 			// then we use this to override the mod search path, and replace it with the mod id
 			var modArgument = args.GetValue("Game.Mod", null);
-			string customModPath = null;
+			var explicitModPaths = new string[0];
 			if (modArgument != null && (File.Exists(modArgument) || Directory.Exists(modArgument)))
 			{
-				customModPath = modArgument;
+				explicitModPaths = new[] { modArgument };
 				args.ReplaceValue("Game.Mod", Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(modArgument));
 			}
 
@@ -314,7 +314,8 @@ namespace OpenRA
 
 			GlobalChat = new GlobalChat();
 
-			Mods = new InstalledMods(customModPath);
+			var modSearchPaths = new[] { Path.Combine(".", "mods"), Path.Combine("^", "mods") };
+			Mods = new InstalledMods(modSearchPaths, explicitModPaths);
 			Console.WriteLine("Internal mods:");
 			foreach (var mod in Mods)
 				Console.WriteLine("\t{0}: {1} ({2})", mod.Key, mod.Value.Metadata.Title, mod.Value.Metadata.Version);
diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/InstalledMods.cs b/OpenRA.Game/InstalledMods.cs
index 2d191b6509..e255e5c44e 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/InstalledMods.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/InstalledMods.cs
@@ -29,34 +29,35 @@ namespace OpenRA
 		readonly Dictionary<string, Sprite> icons = new Dictionary<string, Sprite>();
 		public readonly IReadOnlyDictionary<string, Sprite> Icons;
 
-		public InstalledMods(string customModPath)
+		/// <summary>Initializes the collection of locally installed mods.</summary>
+		/// <param name="searchPaths">Filesystem paths to search for mod packages.</param>
+		/// <param name="explicitPaths">Filesystem paths to additional mod packages.</param>
+		public InstalledMods(IEnumerable<string> searchPaths, IEnumerable<string> explicitPaths)
 		{
 			sheetBuilder = new SheetBuilder(SheetType.BGRA, 256);
 			Icons = new ReadOnlyDictionary<string, Sprite>(icons);
-			mods = GetInstalledMods(customModPath);
+			mods = GetInstalledMods(searchPaths, explicitPaths);
 		}
 
-		static IEnumerable<Pair<string, string>> GetCandidateMods()
+		static IEnumerable<Pair<string, string>> GetCandidateMods(IEnumerable<string> searchPaths)
 		{
-			// Get mods that are in the game folder.
-			var basePath = Platform.ResolvePath(Path.Combine(".", "mods"));
-			var mods = Directory.GetDirectories(basePath)
-				.Select(x => Pair.New(x.Substring(basePath.Length + 1), x))
-				.ToList();
+			var mods = new List<Pair<string, string>>();
+			foreach (var path in searchPaths)
+			{
+				try
+				{
+					var directory = new DirectoryInfo(Platform.ResolvePath(path));
+					foreach (var subdir in directory.EnumerateDirectories())
+						mods.Add(Pair.New(subdir.Name, subdir.FullName));
 
-			foreach (var m in Directory.GetFiles(basePath, "*.oramod"))
-				mods.Add(Pair.New(Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(m), m));
-
-			// Get mods that are in the support folder.
-			var supportPath = Platform.ResolvePath(Path.Combine("^", "mods"));
-			if (!Directory.Exists(supportPath))
-				return mods;
-
-			foreach (var pair in Directory.GetDirectories(supportPath).ToDictionary(x => x.Substring(supportPath.Length + 1)))
-				mods.Add(Pair.New(pair.Key, pair.Value));
-
-			foreach (var m in Directory.GetFiles(supportPath, "*.oramod"))
-				mods.Add(Pair.New(Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(m), m));
+					foreach (var file in directory.EnumerateFiles("*.oramod"))
+						mods.Add(Pair.New(Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(file.Name), file.FullName));
+				}
+				catch (Exception e)
+				{
+					Console.WriteLine("Failed to enumerate mod search path {0}: {1}", path, e.Message);
+				}
+			}
 
 			return mods;
 		}
@@ -102,12 +103,11 @@ namespace OpenRA
 			}
 		}
 
-		Dictionary<string, Manifest> GetInstalledMods(string customModPath)
+		Dictionary<string, Manifest> GetInstalledMods(IEnumerable<string> searchPaths, IEnumerable<string> explicitPaths)
 		{
 			var ret = new Dictionary<string, Manifest>();
-			var candidates = GetCandidateMods();
-			if (customModPath != null)
-				candidates = candidates.Append(Pair.New(Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(customModPath), customModPath));
+			var candidates = GetCandidateMods(searchPaths)
+				.Concat(explicitPaths.Select(p => Pair.New(Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(p), p)));
 
 			foreach (var pair in candidates)
 			{
diff --git a/OpenRA.Server/Program.cs b/OpenRA.Server/Program.cs
index 0bdf8fa365..74d76dae6c 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Server/Program.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Server/Program.cs
@@ -30,10 +30,10 @@ namespace OpenRA.Server
 			// Special case handling of Game.Mod argument: if it matches a real filesystem path
 			// then we use this to override the mod search path, and replace it with the mod id
 			var modArgument = arguments.GetValue("Game.Mod", null);
-			string customModPath = null;
+			var explicitModPaths = new string[0];
 			if (modArgument != null && (File.Exists(modArgument) || Directory.Exists(modArgument)))
 			{
-				customModPath = modArgument;
+				explicitModPaths = new[] { modArgument };
 				arguments.ReplaceValue("Game.Mod", Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(modArgument));
 			}
 
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@ namespace OpenRA.Server
 			var settings = Game.Settings.Server;
 
 			var mod = Game.Settings.Game.Mod;
-			var mods = new InstalledMods(customModPath);
+			var modSearchPaths = new[] { Path.Combine(".", "mods"), Path.Combine("^", "mods") };
+			var mods = new InstalledMods(modSearchPaths, explicitModPaths);
 
 			// HACK: The engine code *still* assumes that Game.ModData is set
 			var modData = Game.ModData = new ModData(mods[mod], mods);
diff --git a/OpenRA.Utility/Program.cs b/OpenRA.Utility/Program.cs
index b554d6e065..447cb65de7 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Utility/Program.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Utility/Program.cs
@@ -47,19 +47,20 @@ namespace OpenRA
 
 			if (args.Length == 0)
 			{
-				PrintUsage(new InstalledMods(null), null);
+				PrintUsage(new InstalledMods(new string[0], new string[0]), null);
 				return;
 			}
 
 			var modId = args[0];
-			string customModPath = null;
+			var explicitModPaths = new string[0];
 			if (File.Exists(modId) || Directory.Exists(modId))
 			{
-				customModPath = modId;
+				explicitModPaths = new[] { modId };
 				modId = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(modId);
 			}
 
-			var mods = new InstalledMods(customModPath);
+			var modSearchPaths = new[] { Path.Combine(".", "mods"), Path.Combine("^", "mods") };
+			var mods = new InstalledMods(modSearchPaths, explicitModPaths);
 			if (!mods.Keys.Contains(modId))
 			{
 				PrintUsage(mods, null);