diff --git a/src/calamares/CalamaresApplication.cpp b/src/calamares/CalamaresApplication.cpp
index 4889a57b5..36ab8d828 100644
--- a/src/calamares/CalamaresApplication.cpp
+++ b/src/calamares/CalamaresApplication.cpp
@@ -31,6 +31,9 @@
 #include "viewpages/ViewStep.h"
 #include "ViewManager.h"
 
+#include <QDir>
+#include <QFileInfo>
+
 
 CalamaresApplication::CalamaresApplication( int& argc, char *argv[] )
     : QApplication( argc, argv )
@@ -130,7 +133,54 @@ CalamaresApplication::startPhase( Calamares::Phase phase )
 void
 CalamaresApplication::initSettings()
 {
-    new Calamares::Settings( isDebug(), this );
+    QFileInfo settingsFile;
+    if ( CalamaresUtils::isAppDataDirOverridden() )
+    {
+        settingsFile = QFileInfo( CalamaresUtils::appDataDir().absoluteFilePath( "settings.conf" ) );
+        if ( !settingsFile.exists() || !settingsFile.isReadable() )
+        {
+            cLog() << "FATAL ERROR: explicitly configured application data directory"
+                   << CalamaresUtils::appDataDir().absolutePath()
+                   << "does not contain a valid settings.conf file."
+                   << "\nCowardly refusing to continue startup without settings.";
+            ::exit( EXIT_FAILURE );
+        }
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        QStringList settingsFileCandidatesByPriority;
+        if ( isDebug() )
+        {
+            settingsFileCandidatesByPriority.append(
+                QDir::currentPath() +
+                QDir::separator() +
+                "settings.conf" );
+        }
+        settingsFileCandidatesByPriority.append( "/etc/calamares/settings.conf" );
+        settingsFileCandidatesByPriority.append( CalamaresUtils::appDataDir()
+                                                    .absoluteFilePath( "settings.conf" ) );
+
+        foreach ( const QString& path, settingsFileCandidatesByPriority )
+        {
+            QFileInfo pathFi( path );
+            if ( pathFi.exists() && pathFi.isReadable() )
+            {
+                settingsFile = pathFi;
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+
+        if ( !settingsFile.exists() || !settingsFile.isReadable() )
+        {
+            cLog() << "FATAL ERROR: none of the expected configuration file paths ("
+                   << settingsFileCandidatesByPriority.join( ", " )
+                   << ") contain a valid settings.conf file."
+                   << "\nCowardly refusing to continue startup without settings.";
+            ::exit( EXIT_FAILURE );
+        }
+    }
+
+    new Calamares::Settings( settingsFile.absoluteFilePath(), isDebug(), this );
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/calamares/main.cpp b/src/calamares/main.cpp
index d80c43d5d..2482e9214 100644
--- a/src/calamares/main.cpp
+++ b/src/calamares/main.cpp
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ main( int argc, char *argv[] )
     parser.addOption( debugOption );
 
     QCommandLineOption configOption( QStringList() << "c" << "config",
-                                     "Configuration dir to use, for testing purposes.", "config" );
+                                     "Configuration directory to use, for testing purposes.", "config" );
     parser.addOption( configOption );
 
     parser.process( a );
diff --git a/src/libcalamares/utils/CalamaresUtils.cpp b/src/libcalamares/utils/CalamaresUtils.cpp
index 4855698bc..10e38d3de 100644
--- a/src/libcalamares/utils/CalamaresUtils.cpp
+++ b/src/libcalamares/utils/CalamaresUtils.cpp
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ namespace CalamaresUtils
 {
 
 static QDir s_appDataDir( CMAKE_INSTALL_FULL_DATADIR );
+static bool s_isAppDataDirOverridden = false;
 
 static bool
 isWritableDir( const QDir& dir )
@@ -76,6 +77,14 @@ void
 setAppDataDir( const QDir& dir )
 {
     s_appDataDir = dir;
+    s_isAppDataDirOverridden = true;
+}
+
+
+bool
+isAppDataDirOverridden()
+{
+    return s_isAppDataDirOverridden;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/libcalamares/utils/CalamaresUtils.h b/src/libcalamares/utils/CalamaresUtils.h
index f7713be18..8b22b4f90 100644
--- a/src/libcalamares/utils/CalamaresUtils.h
+++ b/src/libcalamares/utils/CalamaresUtils.h
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ namespace CalamaresUtils
      * Override app data dir. Only for testing purposes.
      */
     DLLEXPORT void setAppDataDir( const QDir& dir );
+    DLLEXPORT bool isAppDataDirOverridden();
 }
 
 #endif // CALAMARESUTILS_H
diff --git a/src/libcalamaresui/Settings.cpp b/src/libcalamaresui/Settings.cpp
index 9a07a61e2..7b57aff57 100644
--- a/src/libcalamaresui/Settings.cpp
+++ b/src/libcalamaresui/Settings.cpp
@@ -40,26 +40,17 @@ Settings::instance()
 }
 
 
-Settings::Settings( bool debugMode, QObject* parent )
+Settings::Settings( const QString& settingsFilePath,
+                    bool debugMode,
+                    QObject* parent )
     : QObject( parent )
     , m_debug( debugMode )
 {
-    QFileInfo settingsFile( "/etc/calamares/settings.conf" );
-    if ( !settingsFile.exists() || !settingsFile.isReadable() )
-        settingsFile = QFileInfo( CalamaresUtils::appDataDir().absoluteFilePath( "settings.conf" ) );
-
-    if ( debugMode )
-    {
-        QFileInfo localFile( QDir( QDir::currentPath() ).absoluteFilePath( "settings.conf" ) );
-        if ( localFile.exists() && localFile.isReadable() )
-            settingsFile.setFile( localFile.absoluteFilePath() );
-    }
-    QFile file( settingsFile.absoluteFilePath() );
-
+    cDebug() << "Using Calamares settings file at" << settingsFilePath;
+    QFile file( settingsFilePath );
     if ( file.exists() && file.open( QFile::ReadOnly | QFile::Text ) )
     {
         QByteArray ba = file.readAll();
-        cDebug() << ba;
 
         try
         {
diff --git a/src/libcalamaresui/Settings.h b/src/libcalamaresui/Settings.h
index ae48664bc..1c374489a 100644
--- a/src/libcalamaresui/Settings.h
+++ b/src/libcalamaresui/Settings.h
@@ -33,7 +33,9 @@ class UIDLLEXPORT Settings : public QObject
 {
     Q_OBJECT
 public:
-    explicit Settings( bool debugMode, QObject *parent = nullptr );
+    explicit Settings( const QString& settingsFilePath,
+                       bool debugMode,
+                       QObject *parent = nullptr );
 
     static Settings* instance();
     //TODO: load from JSON then emit ready