diff --git a/src/auth/main.c b/src/auth/main.c
index 5a87c57..74bff52 100644
--- a/src/auth/main.c
+++ b/src/auth/main.c
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ static void main_preinit(void)
 	mod_set.debug = global_auth_settings->debug;
 	mod_set.filter_callback = auth_module_filter;
 
-	modules = module_dir_load(AUTH_MODULE_DIR, NULL, &mod_set);
+	modules = module_dir_load("/etc/dovecot/modules/auth", NULL, &mod_set);
 	module_dir_init(modules);
 
 	if (!worker)
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ void auth_module_load(const char *names)
 	mod_set.debug = global_auth_settings->debug;
 	mod_set.ignore_missing = TRUE;
 
-	modules = module_dir_load_missing(modules, AUTH_MODULE_DIR, names,
+	modules = module_dir_load_missing(modules, "/etc/dovecot/modules/auth", names,
 					  &mod_set);
 	module_dir_init(modules);
 }
diff --git a/src/config/all-settings.c b/src/config/all-settings.c
index de223a5..2df2d21 100644
--- a/src/config/all-settings.c
+++ b/src/config/all-settings.c
@@ -836,7 +836,7 @@ static const struct mail_user_settings mail_user_default_settings = {
 	.last_valid_gid = 0,
 
 	.mail_plugins = "",
-	.mail_plugin_dir = MODULEDIR,
+	.mail_plugin_dir = "/etc/dovecot/modules",
 
 	.mail_log_prefix = "%s(%u): ",
 
@@ -3545,7 +3545,7 @@ const struct doveadm_settings doveadm_default_settings = {
 	.base_dir = PKG_RUNDIR,
 	.libexec_dir = PKG_LIBEXECDIR,
 	.mail_plugins = "",
-	.mail_plugin_dir = MODULEDIR,
+	.mail_plugin_dir = "/etc/dovecot/modules",
 	.auth_debug = FALSE,
 	.auth_socket_path = "auth-userdb",
 	.doveadm_socket_path = "doveadm-server",
diff --git a/src/config/config-parser.c b/src/config/config-parser.c
index 2a5009a..134f92b 100644
--- a/src/config/config-parser.c
+++ b/src/config/config-parser.c
@@ -1047,7 +1047,7 @@ void config_parse_load_modules(void)
 
 	memset(&mod_set, 0, sizeof(mod_set));
 	mod_set.abi_version = DOVECOT_ABI_VERSION;
-	modules = module_dir_load(CONFIG_MODULE_DIR, NULL, &mod_set);
+	modules = module_dir_load("/etc/dovecot/modules/settings", NULL, &mod_set);
 	module_dir_init(modules);
 
 	i_array_init(&new_roots, 64);
diff --git a/src/dict/main.c b/src/dict/main.c
index e6c945e..06ad6c5 100644
--- a/src/dict/main.c
+++ b/src/dict/main.c
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ static void main_init(void)
 	mod_set.abi_version = DOVECOT_ABI_VERSION;
 	mod_set.require_init_funcs = TRUE;
 
-	modules = module_dir_load(DICT_MODULE_DIR, NULL, &mod_set);
+	modules = module_dir_load("/etc/dovecot/modules/dict", NULL, &mod_set);
 	module_dir_init(modules);
 
 	/* Register only after loading modules. They may contain SQL drivers,
diff --git a/src/doveadm/doveadm-settings.c b/src/doveadm/doveadm-settings.c
index df12284..19c18da 100644
--- a/src/doveadm/doveadm-settings.c
+++ b/src/doveadm/doveadm-settings.c
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ const struct doveadm_settings doveadm_default_settings = {
 	.base_dir = PKG_RUNDIR,
 	.libexec_dir = PKG_LIBEXECDIR,
 	.mail_plugins = "",
-	.mail_plugin_dir = MODULEDIR,
+	.mail_plugin_dir = "/etc/dovecot/modules",
 	.auth_debug = FALSE,
 	.auth_socket_path = "auth-userdb",
 	.doveadm_socket_path = "doveadm-server",
diff --git a/src/lib-fs/fs-api.c b/src/lib-fs/fs-api.c
index b50fbe0..ace3aff 100644
--- a/src/lib-fs/fs-api.c
+++ b/src/lib-fs/fs-api.c
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ static void fs_class_try_load_plugin(const char *driver)
 	mod_set.abi_version = DOVECOT_ABI_VERSION;
 	mod_set.ignore_missing = TRUE;
 
-	fs_modules = module_dir_load_missing(fs_modules, MODULE_DIR,
+	fs_modules = module_dir_load_missing(fs_modules, "/etc/dovecot/modules",
 					     module_name, &mod_set);
 	module_dir_init(fs_modules);
 
diff --git a/src/lib-ssl-iostream/iostream-ssl.c b/src/lib-ssl-iostream/iostream-ssl.c
index a0659ab..dba3729 100644
--- a/src/lib-ssl-iostream/iostream-ssl.c
+++ b/src/lib-ssl-iostream/iostream-ssl.c
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ static int ssl_module_load(const char **error_r)
 	mod_set.abi_version = DOVECOT_ABI_VERSION;
 	mod_set.setting_name = "<built-in lib-ssl-iostream lookup>";
 	mod_set.require_init_funcs = TRUE;
-	ssl_module = module_dir_load(MODULE_DIR, plugin_name, &mod_set);
+	ssl_module = module_dir_load("/etc/dovecot/modules", plugin_name, &mod_set);
 	if (module_dir_try_load_missing(&ssl_module, MODULE_DIR, plugin_name,
 					&mod_set, error_r) < 0)
 		return -1;
diff --git a/src/lib-storage/mail-storage-settings.c b/src/lib-storage/mail-storage-settings.c
index e2233bf..bbf981e 100644
--- a/src/lib-storage/mail-storage-settings.c
+++ b/src/lib-storage/mail-storage-settings.c
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ static const struct mail_user_settings mail_user_default_settings = {
 	.last_valid_gid = 0,
 
 	.mail_plugins = "",
-	.mail_plugin_dir = MODULEDIR,
+	.mail_plugin_dir = "/etc/dovecot/modules",
 
 	.mail_log_prefix = "%s(%u): ",