diff --git a/lib/gears/filesystem.lua b/lib/gears/filesystem.lua
index eff5dbcf1..9c0e340fb 100644
--- a/lib/gears/filesystem.lua
+++ b/lib/gears/filesystem.lua
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 
 -- Grab environment we need
 local Gio = require("lgi").Gio
+local gstring = require("gears.string")
+local gtable = require("gears.table")
 
 local filesystem = {}
 
@@ -66,6 +68,21 @@ function filesystem.get_xdg_cache_home()
     return (os.getenv("XDG_CACHE_HOME") or os.getenv("HOME") .. "/.cache") .. "/"
 end
 
+--- Get the data home according to the XDG basedir specification.
+-- @treturn string the data home (XDG_DATA_HOME) with a slash at the end.
+function filesystem.get_xdg_data_home()
+    return (os.getenv("XDG_DATA_HOME") or os.getenv("HOME") .. "/.local/share") .. "/"
+end
+
+--- Get the data dirs according to the XDG basedir specification.
+-- @treturn table the data dirs (XDG_DATA_DIRS) with a slash at the end of each entry.
+function filesystem.get_xdg_data_dirs()
+    local xdg_data_dirs = os.getenv("XDG_DATA_DIRS") or "/usr/share:/usr/local/share"
+    return gtable.map(
+        function(dir) return dir .. "/" end,
+        gstring.split(xdg_data_dirs, ":"))
+end
+
 --- Get the path to the user's config dir.
 -- This is the directory containing the configuration file ("rc.lua").
 -- @return A string with the requested path with a slash at the end.
diff --git a/lib/gears/string.lua b/lib/gears/string.lua
index 00b181eb3..b11da8171 100644
--- a/lib/gears/string.lua
+++ b/lib/gears/string.lua
@@ -84,4 +84,26 @@ function gstring.query_to_pattern(q)
                     end)
     return s
 end
+
+--- Split separates a string containing a delimiter into the list of
+-- substrings between that delimiter.
+-- @class function
+-- @name split
+-- @tparam string str String to be splitted
+-- @tparam string delimiter Character where the string will be splitted
+-- @treturn table list of the substrings
+function gstring.split(str, delimiter)
+    local pattern = "(.-)" .. delimiter .. "()"
+    local result = {}
+    local n = 0
+    local lastPos = 0
+    for part, pos in string.gmatch(str, pattern) do
+        n = n + 1
+        result[n] = part
+        lastPos = pos
+    end
+    result[n + 1] = string.sub(str, lastPos)
+    return result
+end
+
 return gstring
diff --git a/lib/gears/table.lua b/lib/gears/table.lua
index 95c528a0b..54ceab4be 100644
--- a/lib/gears/table.lua
+++ b/lib/gears/table.lua
@@ -212,5 +212,20 @@ function gtable.merge(t, set)
     return t
 end
 
+--- Map a function to a table. The function is applied to each value
+-- on the table, returning a table of the results.
+-- @class function
+-- @name map
+-- @tparam function f the function to be applied to each value on the table
+-- @tparam table tbl the container table whose values will be operated on
+-- @treturn table Return a table of the results
+function gtable.map(f, tbl)
+    local t = {}
+    for k,v in pairs(tbl) do
+        t[k] = f(v)
+    end
+    return t
+end
+
 
 return gtable
diff --git a/lib/menubar/menu_gen.lua b/lib/menubar/menu_gen.lua
index d1455d874..87cbeb206 100644
--- a/lib/menubar/menu_gen.lua
+++ b/lib/menubar/menu_gen.lua
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 -- Grab environment
+local gtable = require("gears.table")
+local gfilesystem = require("gears.filesystem")
 local utils = require("menubar.utils")
 local icon_theme = require("menubar.icon_theme")
 local pairs = pairs
@@ -18,14 +20,16 @@ local menu_gen = {}
 
 -- Options section
 
-local data_dir = os.getenv("XDG_DATA_HOME")
-if not data_dir then
-    data_dir = os.getenv("HOME") .. '/.local/share'
+--- Get the path to the directories where XDG menu applications are installed.
+local function get_xdg_menu_dirs()
+    local dirs = gfilesystem.get_xdg_data_dirs()
+    table.insert(dirs, 1, gfilesystem.get_xdg_data_home())
+    return gtable.map(function(dir) return dir .. 'applications/' end, dirs)
 end
 
 --- Specifies all directories where menubar should look for .desktop
 -- files. The search is recursive.
-menu_gen.all_menu_dirs = { data_dir .. '/applications/', '/usr/share/applications/', '/usr/local/share/applications/' }
+menu_gen.all_menu_dirs = get_xdg_menu_dirs()
 
 --- Specify the mapping of .desktop Categories section to the
 -- categories in the menubar. If "use" flag is set to false then any of