diff --git a/panels/search/cc-search-panel.c b/panels/search/cc-search-panel.c
index d08e230..3bff4ad 100644
--- a/panels/search/cc-search-panel.c
+++ b/panels/search/cc-search-panel.c
@@ -574,7 +574,11 @@ populate_search_providers (CcSearchPanel *self)
 {
   GFile *providers_location;
 
-  providers_location = g_file_new_for_path (DATADIR "/gnome-shell/search-providers");
+  const gchar* search_providers_dir = g_getenv ("GNOME_SEARCH_PROVIDERS_DIR");
+  if (search_providers_dir == NULL) {
+    search_providers_dir = DATADIR "/gnome-shell/search-providers";
+  }
+  providers_location = g_file_new_for_path (search_providers_dir);
   g_file_enumerate_children_async (providers_location,
                                    "standard::type,standard::name,standard::content-type",
                                    G_FILE_QUERY_INFO_NONE,