diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index d4eeb7e..5c9f603 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ AM_CPPFLAGS = \
 	-include $(top_builddir)/config.h \
 	-I$(top_srcdir) \
 	-DSYSCONFDIR=\""$(sysconfdir)"\" \
+	-DMODULESDIRS=\""$(shell echo $(modulesdirs) | $(SED) 's|:|\\",\\"|g')"\" \
 	${zlib_CFLAGS}
 
 AM_CFLAGS = $(OUR_CFLAGS)
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 23510c8..66490cf 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -202,6 +202,12 @@ GTK_DOC_CHECK([1.14],[--flavour no-tmpl-flat])
 ], [
 AM_CONDITIONAL([ENABLE_GTK_DOC], false)])
 
+AC_ARG_WITH([modulesdirs],
+	AS_HELP_STRING([--with-modulesdirs=DIRS], [Kernel modules directories, separated by :]),
+	[],
+	[with_modulesdirs=/lib/modules])
+AC_SUBST([modulesdirs], [$with_modulesdirs])
+
 
 #####################################################################
 # Default CFLAGS and LDFLAGS
diff --git a/libkmod/libkmod.c b/libkmod/libkmod.c
index 69fe431..d37da32 100644
--- a/libkmod/libkmod.c
+++ b/libkmod/libkmod.c
@@ -206,12 +206,15 @@ static int log_priority(const char *priority)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static const char *dirname_default_prefix = "/lib/modules";
+static const char *dirname_default_prefixes[] = {
+	MODULESDIRS,
+	NULL
+};
 
 static char *get_kernel_release(const char *dirname)
 {
 	struct utsname u;
-	char *p;
+	char *p, *dirname_prefix;
 
 	if (dirname != NULL)
 		return path_make_absolute_cwd(dirname);
@@ -219,8 +222,42 @@ static char *get_kernel_release(const char *dirname)
 	if (uname(&u) < 0)
 		return NULL;
 
-	if (asprintf(&p, "%s/%s", dirname_default_prefix, u.release) < 0)
-		return NULL;
+	if ((dirname_prefix = getenv("MODULE_DIR")) != NULL) {
+		if(asprintf(&p, "%s/%s", dirname_prefix, u.release) < 0)
+			return NULL;
+	} else {
+		size_t i;
+		char buf[PATH_MAX];
+
+		for (i = 0; dirname_default_prefixes[i] != NULL; i++) {
+			int plen;
+			struct stat dirstat;
+
+			plen = snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/%s", dirname_default_prefixes[i], u.release);
+			if (plen < 0)
+				return NULL;
+			else if (plen >= PATH_MAX)
+				continue;
+
+			if (dirname_default_prefixes[i + 1] != NULL) {
+				if (stat(buf, &dirstat) < 0) {
+					if (errno == ENOENT)
+						continue;
+					else
+						return NULL;
+				}
+
+				if (!S_ISDIR(dirstat.st_mode))
+					continue;
+			}
+
+			p = malloc(plen + 1);
+			if (p == NULL)
+				return NULL;
+			memcpy(p, buf, plen + 1);
+			break;
+		}
+	}
 
 	return p;
 }
diff --git a/tools/static-nodes.c b/tools/static-nodes.c
index 8d2356d..2ed306d 100644
--- a/tools/static-nodes.c
+++ b/tools/static-nodes.c
@@ -29,10 +29,11 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
-#include <sys/utsname.h>
 
 #include <shared/util.h>
 
+#include <libkmod/libkmod.h>
+
 #include "kmod.h"
 
 struct static_nodes_format {
@@ -154,8 +155,8 @@ static void help(void)
 
 static int do_static_nodes(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
-	struct utsname kernel;
 	char modules[PATH_MAX], buf[4096];
+	struct kmod_ctx *ctx;
 	const char *output = "/dev/stdout";
 	FILE *in = NULL, *out = NULL;
 	const struct static_nodes_format *format = &static_nodes_format_human;
@@ -206,22 +207,25 @@ static int do_static_nodes(int argc, char *argv[])
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (uname(&kernel) < 0) {
-		fputs("Error: uname failed!\n", stderr);
+	ctx = kmod_new(NULL, NULL);
+	if (ctx == NULL) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Error: failed to create kmod context\n");
 		ret = EXIT_FAILURE;
 		goto finish;
 	}
-
-	snprintf(modules, sizeof(modules), "/lib/modules/%s/modules.devname", kernel.release);
+	if (snprintf(modules, sizeof(modules), "%s/modules.devname", kmod_get_dirname(ctx)) < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Error: path to modules.devname is too long\n");
+		ret = EXIT_FAILURE;
+		goto finish;
+	}
+	kmod_unref(ctx);
 	in = fopen(modules, "re");
 	if (in == NULL) {
 		if (errno == ENOENT) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "Warning: /lib/modules/%s/modules.devname not found - ignoring\n",
-				kernel.release);
+			fprintf(stderr, "Warning: %s not found - ignoring\n", modules);
 			ret = EXIT_SUCCESS;
 		} else {
-			fprintf(stderr, "Error: could not open /lib/modules/%s/modules.devname - %m\n",
-				kernel.release);
+			fprintf(stderr, "Error: could not open %s - %m\n", modules);
 			ret = EXIT_FAILURE;
 		}
 		goto finish;