diff -ru -x '*~' kmod-17-orig/libkmod/libkmod.c kmod-17/libkmod/libkmod.c
--- kmod-17-orig/libkmod/libkmod.c	2014-04-01 12:40:37.161940089 +0200
+++ kmod-17/libkmod/libkmod.c	2014-04-17 13:47:15.871441987 +0200
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@
 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);
@@ -209,7 +209,10 @@
 	if (uname(&u) < 0)
 		return NULL;
 
-	if (asprintf(&p, "%s/%s", dirname_default_prefix, u.release) < 0)
+	if ((dirname_prefix = getenv("MODULE_DIR")) == NULL)
+		dirname_prefix = dirname_default_prefix;
+
+	if (asprintf(&p, "%s/%s", dirname_prefix, u.release) < 0)
 		return NULL;
 
 	return p;
diff -ru -x '*~' kmod-17-orig/tools/static-nodes.c kmod-17/tools/static-nodes.c
--- kmod-17-orig/tools/static-nodes.c	2013-12-17 22:05:42.159047316 +0100
+++ kmod-17/tools/static-nodes.c	2014-04-17 13:51:17.945974320 +0200
@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@
 	FILE *in = NULL, *out = NULL;
 	const struct static_nodes_format *format = &static_nodes_format_human;
 	int r, ret = EXIT_SUCCESS;
+	char *dirname_prefix;
 
 	for (;;) {
 		int c, idx = 0, valid;
@@ -211,16 +212,19 @@
 		goto finish;
 	}
 
-	snprintf(modules, sizeof(modules), "/lib/modules/%s/modules.devname", kernel.release);
+	if ((dirname_prefix = getenv("MODULE_DIR")) == NULL)
+		dirname_prefix = "/lib/modules";
+
+	snprintf(modules, sizeof(modules), "%s/%s/modules.devname", dirname_prefix, kernel.release);
 	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/%s/modules.devname not found - ignoring\n",
+				dirname_prefix, kernel.release);
 			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/%s/modules.devname - %m\n",
+				dirname_prefix, kernel.release);
 			ret = EXIT_FAILURE;
 		}
 		goto finish;