diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/Game.cs b/OpenRA.Game/Game.cs
index f978267b66..2d8a505dd4 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/Game.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/Game.cs
@@ -647,12 +647,12 @@ namespace OpenRA
 		public static string SupportDir
 		{
 			get {
-				// Unless the user has specified otherwise, put support files in a subdirectory of the game install
-				if (Settings.SupportDir == null)
-					return Environment.CurrentDirectory + Path.DirectorySeparatorChar + "Support" + Path.DirectorySeparatorChar;
+				var dir = Settings.SupportDir;
 				
-				// Custom paths are relative to the home directory (My Documents under windows)
-				return Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Personal) + Path.DirectorySeparatorChar + Settings.SupportDir + Path.DirectorySeparatorChar;
+				// Expand paths relative to the personal directory
+				if (dir.ElementAt(0) == '~')
+					dir = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Personal) + dir.Substring(1);
+				return dir + Path.DirectorySeparatorChar;
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/GameRules/UserSettings.cs b/OpenRA.Game/GameRules/UserSettings.cs
index 91afb0e088..d763276f84 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/GameRules/UserSettings.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/GameRules/UserSettings.cs
@@ -19,13 +19,14 @@
 #endregion
 
 using OpenRA.FileFormats.Graphics;
-
+using System;
+using System.IO;
 namespace OpenRA.GameRules
 {
 	public class UserSettings
 	{
-		public readonly string SupportDir = null;
-		
+		public readonly string SupportDir = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Personal)
+												+ Path.DirectorySeparatorChar + "OpenRA" + Path.DirectorySeparatorChar;
 		// Debug settings
 		public bool UnitDebug = false;
 		public bool PathDebug = true;