diff --git a/util/util.go b/util/util.go
index 5464aa01..598f37a7 100644
--- a/util/util.go
+++ b/util/util.go
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ const (
 
 var (
 	emailRegex = regexp.MustCompile("^(?:(?:(?:(?:[a-zA-Z]|\\d|[!#\\$%&'\\*\\+\\-\\/=\\?\\^_`{\\|}~]|[\\x{00A0}-\\x{D7FF}\\x{F900}-\\x{FDCF}\\x{FDF0}-\\x{FFEF}])+(?:\\.([a-zA-Z]|\\d|[!#\\$%&'\\*\\+\\-\\/=\\?\\^_`{\\|}~]|[\\x{00A0}-\\x{D7FF}\\x{F900}-\\x{FDCF}\\x{FDF0}-\\x{FFEF}])+)*)|(?:(?:\\x22)(?:(?:(?:(?:\\x20|\\x09)*(?:\\x0d\\x0a))?(?:\\x20|\\x09)+)?(?:(?:[\\x01-\\x08\\x0b\\x0c\\x0e-\\x1f\\x7f]|\\x21|[\\x23-\\x5b]|[\\x5d-\\x7e]|[\\x{00A0}-\\x{D7FF}\\x{F900}-\\x{FDCF}\\x{FDF0}-\\x{FFEF}])|(?:(?:[\\x01-\\x09\\x0b\\x0c\\x0d-\\x7f]|[\\x{00A0}-\\x{D7FF}\\x{F900}-\\x{FDCF}\\x{FDF0}-\\x{FFEF}]))))*(?:(?:(?:\\x20|\\x09)*(?:\\x0d\\x0a))?(\\x20|\\x09)+)?(?:\\x22))))@(?:(?:(?:[a-zA-Z]|\\d|[\\x{00A0}-\\x{D7FF}\\x{F900}-\\x{FDCF}\\x{FDF0}-\\x{FFEF}])|(?:(?:[a-zA-Z]|\\d|[\\x{00A0}-\\x{D7FF}\\x{F900}-\\x{FDCF}\\x{FDF0}-\\x{FFEF}])(?:[a-zA-Z]|\\d|-|\\.|~|[\\x{00A0}-\\x{D7FF}\\x{F900}-\\x{FDCF}\\x{FDF0}-\\x{FFEF}])*(?:[a-zA-Z]|\\d|[\\x{00A0}-\\x{D7FF}\\x{F900}-\\x{FDCF}\\x{FDF0}-\\x{FFEF}])))\\.)+(?:(?:[a-zA-Z]|[\\x{00A0}-\\x{D7FF}\\x{F900}-\\x{FDCF}\\x{FDF0}-\\x{FFEF}])|(?:(?:[a-zA-Z]|[\\x{00A0}-\\x{D7FF}\\x{F900}-\\x{FDCF}\\x{FDF0}-\\x{FFEF}])(?:[a-zA-Z]|\\d|-|\\.|~|[\\x{00A0}-\\x{D7FF}\\x{F900}-\\x{FDCF}\\x{FDF0}-\\x{FFEF}])*(?:[a-zA-Z]|[\\x{00A0}-\\x{D7FF}\\x{F900}-\\x{FDCF}\\x{FDF0}-\\x{FFEF}])))\\.?$")
+	// this can be set at build time
+	additionalSharedDataSearchPath = ""
 )
 
 // Contains reports whether v is present in elems.
@@ -357,10 +359,14 @@ func FindSharedDataPath(name, searchDir string) string {
 	}
 	if name != "" && !filepath.IsAbs(name) {
 		searchList := []string{searchDir}
+		if additionalSharedDataSearchPath != "" {
+			searchList = append(searchList, additionalSharedDataSearchPath)
+		}
 		if runtime.GOOS != osWindows {
 			searchList = append(searchList, "/usr/share/sftpgo")
 			searchList = append(searchList, "/usr/local/share/sftpgo")
 		}
+		searchList = RemoveDuplicates(searchList, false)
 		for _, basePath := range searchList {
 			res := filepath.Join(basePath, name)
 			_, err := os.Stat(res)