diff --git a/code/nel/tools/3d/object_viewer_qt/CMakeLists.txt b/code/nel/tools/3d/object_viewer_qt/CMakeLists.txt
index b87416280..41896e9c5 100644
--- a/code/nel/tools/3d/object_viewer_qt/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/code/nel/tools/3d/object_viewer_qt/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ ELSEIF(APPLE)
   SET(OVQT_PLUGIN_DIR "plugins")
 ELSE(WIN32)
   SET(OVQT_PLUGIN_DIR ${NL_SHARE_PREFIX}/object_viewer_qt/plugins)
-  ADD_DEFINITIONS(-DDATA_DIR="\\"${NL_SHARE_ABSOLUTE_PREFIX}/object_viewer_qt/\\"")
+  ADD_DEFINITIONS(-DDATA_DIR="\\"${NL_SHARE_ABSOLUTE_PREFIX}/object_viewer_qt\\"" -DPLUGINS_DIR="\\"${NL_LIB_ABSOLUTE_PREFIX}/object_viewer_qt\\"")
 ENDIF(WIN32)
 
 IF(UNIX AND WITH_STATIC)
diff --git a/code/nel/tools/3d/object_viewer_qt/src/extension_system/plugin_spec.cpp b/code/nel/tools/3d/object_viewer_qt/src/extension_system/plugin_spec.cpp
index f45eae4a1..f24cbcfb1 100644
--- a/code/nel/tools/3d/object_viewer_qt/src/extension_system/plugin_spec.cpp
+++ b/code/nel/tools/3d/object_viewer_qt/src/extension_system/plugin_spec.cpp
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@
 #include <QtCore/QPluginLoader>
 #include <QtCore/QCoreApplication>
 
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+#include "config.h"
+#endif
+
 namespace ExtensionSystem
 {
 const char *const PLUGIN_SPEC_NAME = "name";
@@ -143,9 +147,44 @@ bool PluginSpec::setFileName(const QString &fileName)
 	m_fileName = m_prefix + fileName + m_suffix;
 	m_filePath = m_location + "/" + m_fileName;
 
+	QFile file;
+	file.setFileName(m_filePath);
+
+	bool exists = file.exists();
+
+#ifdef NL_OS_UNIX
+
+#ifdef PLUGINS_DIR
+	if (!exists)
+	{
+		// if plugin can't be found in the same directory as spec file,
+		// looks for it in PLUGINS_DIR
+		m_filePath = QString("%1/%2").arg(PLUGINS_DIR).arg(m_fileName);
+
+		file.setFileName(m_filePath);
+
+		exists = file.exists();
+	}
+#endif
+
+#ifdef NL_LIB_PREFIX
+	if (!exists)
+	{
+		// if plugin can't be found in the same directory as spec file or PLUGINS_DIR,
+		// looks for it in NL_LIB_PREFIX
+		m_filePath = QString("%1/%2").arg(NL_LIB_PREFIX).arg(m_fileName);
+
+		file.setFileName(m_filePath);
+
+		exists = file.exists();
+	}
+#endif
+
+#endif
+
 	nlinfo(m_filePath.toStdString().c_str());
-	QFile file(m_filePath);
-	if (!file.exists())
+
+	if (!exists)
 		return reportError(QCoreApplication::translate("PluginSpec", "File does not exist: %1").arg(file.fileName()));
 	if (!file.open(QIODevice::ReadOnly))
 		return reportError(QCoreApplication::translate("PluginSpec", "Could not open file for read: %1").arg(file.fileName()));
@@ -391,4 +430,4 @@ bool PluginSpec::reportError(const QString &err)
 	return false;
 }
 
-} // namespace ExtensionSystem
\ No newline at end of file
+} // namespace ExtensionSystem