diff --git a/server/gkrellmd.h b/server/gkrellmd.h
index 1cb1a58..63368e7 100644
--- a/server/gkrellmd.h
+++ b/server/gkrellmd.h
@@ -102,26 +102,22 @@
 GKRELLMD_VERSION_REV >= (rev)))
 
 #define GKRELLMD_CONFIG				"gkrellmd.conf"
-#define GKRELLMD_PLUGINS_DIR		".gkrellm2/plugins-gkrellmd"
-
 #if defined(WIN32)
-#define GKRELLMD_LOCAL_PLUGINS_DIR	"./plugins-gkrellmd"
-#undef GKRELLMD_SYSTEM_PLUGINS_DIR
+	// no dot in front of config-filename on win32
+	#define GKRELLMD_USER_CONFIG  GKRELLMD_CONFIG
 #else
-#define GKRELLMD_LOCAL_PLUGINS_DIR	"/usr/local/lib/gkrellm2/plugins-gkrellmd"
-#if !defined(GKRELLMD_SYSTEM_PLUGINS_DIR)
-#define GKRELLMD_SYSTEM_PLUGINS_DIR	"/usr/lib/gkrellm2/plugins-gkrellmd"
+	#define GKRELLMD_USER_CONFIG	".gkrellmd.conf"
 #endif
-#endif // defined(WIN32)
-
-
-#if defined(WIN32)
-#undef GKRELLMD_SYS_ETC
-#define GKRELLMD_LOCAL_ETC	"./etc"
-#else
-#define GKRELLMD_SYS_ETC	"/etc"
-#define GKRELLMD_LOCAL_ETC	"/usr/local/etc"
-#endif // defined(WIN32)
+ 
+#define GKRELLMD_PLUGINS_DIR		".gkrellm2/plugins-gkrellmd"
+#if !defined(WIN32)
+	#define GKRELLMD_LOCAL_PLUGINS_DIR	"/usr/local/lib/gkrellm2/plugins-gkrellmd"
+	#if !defined(GKRELLMD_SYSTEM_PLUGINS_DIR)
+		#define GKRELLMD_SYSTEM_PLUGINS_DIR	"/usr/lib/gkrellm2/plugins-gkrellmd"
+	#endif
+	#define GKRELLMD_SYS_ETC	"/etc"
+	#define GKRELLMD_LOCAL_ETC	"/usr/local/etc"
+#endif // !defined(WIN32)
 
 
 typedef struct _GkrellmdClient
diff --git a/server/plugins.c b/server/plugins.c
index 97b67a7..9c38066 100644
--- a/server/plugins.c
+++ b/server/plugins.c
@@ -143,6 +143,8 @@ gkrellmd_string_suffix(gchar *string, gchar *suffix)
 	{
 	gchar	*dot;
 
+	if (string == NULL || suffix == NULL)
+		return NULL;
 	dot = strrchr(string, '.');
 	if (dot && !strcmp(dot + 1, suffix))
 		return dot + 1;
@@ -180,14 +182,14 @@ gkrellmd_plugin_scan(gchar *path)
 	gchar			*s;
 	gboolean		exists;
 	
+	/*if (path != NULL)
+		g_print("Searching for plugins in '%s'\n", path);*/
+	
 	if (!path || !*path || (dir = g_dir_open(path, 0, NULL)) == NULL)
 		return;
 	while ((name = (gchar *) g_dir_read_name(dir)) != NULL)
 		{
-		if (   !gkrellmd_string_suffix(name, "so")
-			&& !gkrellmd_string_suffix(name, "la")
-			&& !gkrellmd_string_suffix(name, "dll")
-		   )
+		if (!gkrellmd_string_suffix(name, G_MODULE_SUFFIX))
 			continue;
 
 		/* If there's a libtool .la archive, won't want to load this .so
@@ -264,11 +266,31 @@ gkrellmd_plugins_load(void)
 		gkrellmd_plugin_log("\n", NULL);
 		}
 
-	path = g_strconcat(_GK.homedir, G_DIR_SEPARATOR_S,
-				GKRELLMD_PLUGINS_DIR, NULL);
+	path = g_build_filename(_GK.homedir, GKRELLMD_PLUGINS_DIR, NULL);
 	gkrellmd_plugin_scan(path);
 	g_free(path);
 
+#if defined(WIN32)
+	path = NULL;
+#if GLIB_CHECK_VERSION(2,16,0)
+	gchar *install_path;
+	install_path = g_win32_get_package_installation_directory_of_module(NULL);
+	if (install_path != NULL)
+		{
+		path = g_build_filename(install_path, "plugins-gkrellmd", NULL);
+		g_free(install_path);
+		}
+#else
+	// deprecated since glib 2.16.0
+	path = g_win32_get_package_installation_subdirectory(NULL, NULL, "plugins-gkrellmd");
+#endif
+	if (path)
+		{
+		gkrellmd_plugin_scan(path);
+		g_free(path);
+		}
+#endif
+
 #if defined(GKRELLMD_LOCAL_PLUGINS_DIR)
 	gkrellmd_plugin_scan(GKRELLMD_LOCAL_PLUGINS_DIR);
 #endif