diff --git a/in/other=WHEREAREMYFILES.in b/in/other=WHEREAREMYFILES.in
index cec81a3..ce51f7c 100644
--- a/in/other=WHEREAREMYFILES.in
+++ b/in/other=WHEREAREMYFILES.in
@@ -1,13 +1,18 @@
 WHERE ARE MY FILES?!
 
-If you are reading this, you are probably wondering why your Wicd configuration
-files are not here.  What follows is a summary of the folders that Wicd uses.
+If you are reading this in %VARLIB%, then you may ignore (but please don't
+delete) this file.  The only reason it is here is that it is definitely
+constant between package updates.
+
+If you are reading this from your home directory, you are probably wondering
+why your Wicd configuration files are not in ~/.wicd.  What follows is a
+summary of the folders that Wicd uses.
 
 For a more detailed (and complete) description what is in each directory,
 consult the man pages for wicd(8) and wicd-curses(8).
 
 ~/.wicd
-    User-dependent configuration files, only used by wicd-curses
+    User-dependent configuration files
 
 %ETC%
     Global configuration files
diff --git a/in/scripts=wicd-client.in b/in/scripts=wicd-client.in
index 776581f..a451b88 100755
--- a/in/scripts=wicd-client.in
+++ b/in/scripts=wicd-client.in
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ if [ ! -d "$HOME/.wicd" ]; then
     mkdir -p "$HOME/.wicd"
 fi
 # Make sure the user knows WHEREAREMYFILES ;-)
-if [ -e "%DOCDIR%WHEREAREMYFILES" ] && [ ! -L "$HOME/.wicd/WHEREAREMYFILES" ]; then
-    ln -s "%DOCDIR%WHEREAREMYFILES" "$HOME/.wicd/WHEREAREMYFILES"
+if [ -e "%VARLIB%WHEREAREMYFILES" ] && [ ! -L "$HOME/.wicd/WHEREAREMYFILES" ]; then
+    ln -s "%VARLIB%WHEREAREMYFILES" "$HOME/.wicd/WHEREAREMYFILES"
 fi
 if [ "$DISPLAY" = "" ] && [ -x "%BIN%wicd-curses" ]; then
     if [ ! -f "$HOME/.wicd/CLIENT_CURSES_WARNING" ]; then
diff --git a/in/scripts=wicd-curses.in b/in/scripts=wicd-curses.in
index 9b56c42..19ff689 100755
--- a/in/scripts=wicd-curses.in
+++ b/in/scripts=wicd-curses.in
@@ -1,2 +1,9 @@
 #!/bin/bash
+if [ ! -d "$HOME/.wicd" ]; then
+    mkdir -p "$HOME/.wicd"
+fi
+if [ -e "%VARLIB%WHEREAREMYFILES" ] && [ ! -L "$HOME/.wicd/WHEREAREMYFILES" ]; then
+    ln -s "%VARLIB%WHEREAREMYFILES" "$HOME/.wicd/WHEREAREMYFILES"
+fi
+
 exec python -O %LIB%wicd-curses.py $@
diff --git a/in/wicd=wpath.py.in b/in/wicd=wpath.py.in
index 8f82101..a4f17ef 100755
--- a/in/wicd=wpath.py.in
+++ b/in/wicd=wpath.py.in
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ postconnectscripts = '%SCRIPTS%postconnect'
 images = '%IMAGES%'
 encryption = '%ENCRYPTION%'
 bin = '%BIN%'
+varlib = '%VARLIB%'
 networks = '%NETWORKS%'
 log = '%LOG%'
 resume = '%RESUME%'
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index dd9f851..a880da2 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ class configure(Command):
         ('icons=', None, "set the base directory for the .desktop file's icons"),
         ('translations=', None, 'set the directory translations are stored in'),
         ('autostart=', None, 'set the directory that will be autostarted on desktop login'),
+        ('varlib=',None , 'set the path for wicd\'s variable state data'),
         ('init=', None, 'set the directory for the init file'),
         ('docdir=', None, 'set the directory for the documentation'),
         ('mandir=', None, 'set the directory for the man pages'),
@@ -104,7 +105,8 @@ class configure(Command):
         self.bin = '/usr/bin/'
         self.sbin = '/usr/sbin/'
         self.backends = self.lib + 'backends'
-        self.networks = '/var/lib/wicd/configurations/'
+        self.varlib = '/var/lib/wicd/'
+        self.networks = self.varlib + 'configurations/'
         self.log = '/var/log/wicd/'
         self.resume = '/etc/acpi/resume.d/'
         self.suspend = '/etc/acpi/suspend.d/'
@@ -438,7 +440,8 @@ try:
     data.append (( piddir, [] ))
     if not wpath.no_install_docs:
         data.append((wpath.docdir, ['INSTALL', 'LICENSE', 'AUTHORS',
-                                     'README', 'CHANGES', 'other/WHEREAREMYFILES']))
+                                     'README', 'CHANGES', ]))
+        data.append((wpath.varlib, ['other/WHEREAREMYFILES']))
     if not wpath.no_install_kde:
         data.append((wpath.kdedir, ['other/wicd-tray.desktop']))
     if not wpath.no_install_init: