diff --git a/awesomerc.lua b/awesomerc.lua
index 305c8a06c..4dcbbc07e 100755
--- a/awesomerc.lua
+++ b/awesomerc.lua
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ end
 
 -- {{{ Variable definitions
 -- Themes define colours, icons, font and wallpapers.
-beautiful.init("@AWESOME_THEMES_PATH@/default/theme.lua")
+beautiful.init(awful.util.get_themes_dir() .. "default/theme.lua")
 
 -- This is used later as the default terminal and editor to run.
 terminal = "xterm"
diff --git a/lib/awful/util.lua b/lib/awful/util.lua
index f114e5482..32e6fa28e 100644
--- a/lib/awful/util.lua
+++ b/lib/awful/util.lua
@@ -158,6 +158,18 @@ function util.get_cache_dir()
     return util.get_xdg_cache_home() .. "awesome/"
 end
 
+--- Get the path to the directory where themes are installed.
+-- @return A string with the requested path with a slash at the end.
+function util.get_themes_dir()
+    return "@AWESOME_THEMES_PATH@" .. "/"
+end
+
+--- Get the path to the directory where our icons are installed.
+-- @return A string with the requested path with a slash at the end.
+function util.get_awesome_icon_dir()
+    return "@AWESOME_ICON_PATH@" .. "/"
+end
+
 --- Get the user's config or cache dir.
 -- It first checks XDG_CONFIG_HOME / XDG_CACHE_HOME, but then goes with the
 -- default paths.