diff --git a/frontend/drivers/platform_unix.c b/frontend/drivers/platform_unix.c
index eddda212e240..0266397c5a31 100644
--- a/frontend/drivers/platform_unix.c
+++ b/frontend/drivers/platform_unix.c
@@ -1377,6 +1377,7 @@ static void frontend_unix_get_env(int *argc,
       char *argv[], void *data, void *params_data)
 {
    unsigned i;
+   const char* libretro_directory = getenv("LIBRETRO_DIRECTORY");
 #ifdef ANDROID
    int32_t major, minor, rel;
    char device_model[PROP_VALUE_MAX]  = {0};
@@ -1819,8 +1820,12 @@ static void frontend_unix_get_env(int *argc,
       strcpy_literal(base_path, "retroarch");
 #endif
 
-   fill_pathname_join(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_CORE], base_path,
-         "cores", sizeof(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_CORE]));
+   if (!string_is_empty(libretro_directory))
+      strlcpy(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_CORE], libretro_directory,
+            sizeof(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_CORE]));
+   else
+      fill_pathname_join(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_CORE], base_path,
+            "cores", sizeof(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_CORE]));
 #if defined(DINGUX)
    /* On platforms that require manual core installation/
     * removal, placing core info files in the same directory
diff --git a/frontend/drivers/platform_win32.c b/frontend/drivers/platform_win32.c
index 91168a34bb97..9b6f53c4192d 100644
--- a/frontend/drivers/platform_win32.c
+++ b/frontend/drivers/platform_win32.c
@@ -571,6 +571,7 @@ static void frontend_win32_env_get(int *argc, char *argv[],
       void *args, void *params_data)
 {
    const char *tmp_dir = getenv("TMP");
+   const char *libretro_directory = getenv("LIBRETRO_DIRECTORY");
    if (!string_is_empty(tmp_dir))
       fill_pathname_expand_special(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_CACHE],
          tmp_dir, sizeof(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_CACHE]));
@@ -609,8 +610,12 @@ static void frontend_win32_env_get(int *argc, char *argv[],
    fill_pathname_expand_special(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_VIDEO_LAYOUT],
       ":\\layouts", sizeof(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_VIDEO_LAYOUT]));
 #endif
-   fill_pathname_expand_special(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_CORE],
-      ":\\cores", sizeof(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_CORE]));
+   if (!string_is_empty(libretro_directory))
+      strlcpy(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_CORE], libretro_directory,
+            sizeof(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_CORE]));
+   else
+      fill_pathname_expand_special(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_CORE],
+            ":\\cores", sizeof(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_CORE]));
    fill_pathname_expand_special(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_CORE_INFO],
       ":\\info", sizeof(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_CORE_INFO]));
    fill_pathname_expand_special(g_defaults.dirs[DEFAULT_DIR_AUTOCONFIG],