diff --git a/pcbnew/pcbnew.cpp b/pcbnew/pcbnew.cpp
index b25c10110c..52ae682de8 100644
--- a/pcbnew/pcbnew.cpp
+++ b/pcbnew/pcbnew.cpp
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ static bool scriptingSetup()
     if( !path.DirExists() && !path.Mkdir( wxS_DIR_DEFAULT, wxPATH_MKDIR_FULL ) )
         wxLogError( "Warning: could not create user scripting path %s", path.GetPath() );
 
-    if( !pcbnewInitPythonScripting( TO_UTF8( PyScriptingPath() ) ) )
+    if( !pcbnewInitPythonScripting( TO_UTF8( PyScriptingPath() ), TO_UTF8( PyScriptingPath( true ) ) ) )
     {
         wxLogError( "pcbnewInitPythonScripting() failed." );
         return false;
@@ -305,7 +305,8 @@ void PythonPluginsReloadBase()
     // and load new plugins
     char cmd[1024];
 
-    snprintf( cmd, sizeof( cmd ), "pcbnew.LoadPlugins(\"%s\")", TO_UTF8( PyScriptingPath() ) );
+    snprintf( cmd, sizeof( cmd ), "pcbnew.LoadPlugins(\"%s\", \"%s\")", TO_UTF8( PyScriptingPath() ),
+              TO_UTF8( PyScriptingPath( true ) ) );
 
     PyLOCK lock;
 
diff --git a/pcbnew/swig/python_scripting.cpp b/pcbnew/swig/python_scripting.cpp
index 06556f969f..e7a44fd301 100644
--- a/pcbnew/swig/python_scripting.cpp
+++ b/pcbnew/swig/python_scripting.cpp
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ PyThreadState* g_PythonMainTState;
  *
  * This initializes all the wxPython interface and returns the python thread control structure
  */
-bool pcbnewInitPythonScripting( const char * aUserScriptingPath )
+bool pcbnewInitPythonScripting( const char* aStockScriptingPath, const char* aUserScriptingPath )
 {
     int  retv;
     char cmd[1024];
@@ -242,7 +242,8 @@ bool pcbnewInitPythonScripting( const char * aUserScriptingPath )
         snprintf( cmd, sizeof( cmd ), "import sys, os, traceback\n"
                   "sys.path.append(\".\")\n"
                   "import pcbnew\n"
-                  "pcbnew.LoadPlugins(\"%s\")", aUserScriptingPath );
+                  "pcbnew.LoadPlugins(\"%s\", \"%s\")",
+                  aStockScriptingPath, aUserScriptingPath );
         retv = PyRun_SimpleString( cmd );
 
         if( retv != 0 )
diff --git a/pcbnew/swig/python_scripting.h b/pcbnew/swig/python_scripting.h
index a9f8a7e1c2..1c1790f20d 100644
--- a/pcbnew/swig/python_scripting.h
+++ b/pcbnew/swig/python_scripting.h
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@
 /**
  * Initialize the Python engine inside pcbnew.
  */
-bool        pcbnewInitPythonScripting( const char * aUserScriptingPath );
-void        pcbnewFinishPythonScripting();
+bool pcbnewInitPythonScripting( const char* aStockScriptingPath, const char* aUserScriptingPath );
+void pcbnewFinishPythonScripting();
 
 /**
  * Collect the list of python scripts which could not be loaded.
diff --git a/scripting/kicadplugins.i b/scripting/kicadplugins.i
index 8c8db8beb8..c559ebac36 100644
--- a/scripting/kicadplugins.i
+++ b/scripting/kicadplugins.i
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ def LoadPluginModule(Dirname, ModuleName, FileName):
         FULL_BACK_TRACE += traceback.format_exc()
 
 
-def LoadPlugins(bundlepath=None):
+def LoadPlugins(bundlepath=None, userpath=None):
     """
     Initialise Scripting/Plugin python environment and load plugins.
 
@@ -191,6 +191,9 @@ def LoadPlugins(bundlepath=None):
         plugin_directories.append(os.path.join(config_path, 'scripting'))
         plugin_directories.append(os.path.join(config_path, 'scripting', 'plugins'))
 
+    if userpath:
+        plugin_directories.append(userpath)
+        plugin_directories.append(os.path.join(userpath, 'plugins'))
 
     global PLUGIN_DIRECTORIES_SEARCH
     PLUGIN_DIRECTORIES_SEARCH=""