diff --git a/lib/open.cc b/lib/open.cc
index 0dfd295f..25691a8a 100644
--- a/lib/open.cc
+++ b/lib/open.cc
@@ -181,6 +181,7 @@ _choose_database_path (void *ctx,
 		       const char *profile,
 		       GKeyFile **key_file,
 		       const char **database_path,
+		       bool *split,
 		       char **message)
 {
     notmuch_status_t status;
@@ -203,6 +204,11 @@ _choose_database_path (void *ctx,
 	}
     }
 
+    if (! *database_path) {
+	*database_path = _xdg_dir (ctx, "XDG_DATA_HOME", ".local/share", profile);
+	*split = true;
+    }
+
     if (*database_path == NULL) {
 	*message = strdup ("Error: Cannot open a database for a NULL path.\n");
 	return NOTMUCH_STATUS_NULL_POINTER;
@@ -462,6 +468,7 @@ notmuch_database_open_with_config (const char *database_path,
     notmuch_database_t *notmuch = NULL;
     char *message = NULL;
     GKeyFile *key_file = NULL;
+    bool split = false;
 
     _init_libs ();
 
@@ -471,7 +478,8 @@ notmuch_database_open_with_config (const char *database_path,
 	goto DONE;
     }
 
-    if ((status = _choose_database_path (local, config_path, profile, &key_file, &database_path,
+    if ((status = _choose_database_path (local, config_path, profile,
+					 &key_file, &database_path, &split,
 					 &message)))
 	goto DONE;
 
@@ -563,7 +571,8 @@ notmuch_database_create_with_config (const char *database_path,
     _init_libs ();
 
     if ((status = _choose_database_path (local, config_path, profile,
-					 &key_file, &database_path, &message)))
+					 &key_file, &database_path, &split,
+					 &message)))
 	goto DONE;
 
     status = _db_dir_exists (database_path, &message);
diff --git a/test/T055-path-config.sh b/test/T055-path-config.sh
index 6df17f80..f9a8e200 100755
--- a/test/T055-path-config.sh
+++ b/test/T055-path-config.sh
@@ -37,8 +37,31 @@ symlink_config () {
     unset DATABASE_PATH
 }
 
-for config in traditional split symlink; do
-    # start each set of tests with a known set of messages
+xdg_config () {
+    local dir
+    local profile=${1:-default}
+
+    if [[ $profile != default ]]; then
+	export NOTMUCH_PROFILE=$profile
+    fi
+
+    backup_config
+    DATABASE_PATH="${HOME}/.local/share/notmuch/${profile}"
+    rm -rf $DATABASE_PATH
+    mkdir -p $DATABASE_PATH
+
+    config_dir="${HOME}/.config/notmuch/${profile}"
+    mkdir -p ${config_dir}
+    CONFIG_PATH=$config_dir/config
+    mv ${NOTMUCH_CONFIG} $CONFIG_PATH
+    unset NOTMUCH_CONFIG
+
+    notmuch --config=${CONFIG_PATH} config set database.mail_root ${TMP_DIRECTORY}/mail
+    notmuch --config=${CONFIG_PATH} config set database.path
+}
+
+for config in traditional split XDG XDG+profile symlink; do
+    #start each set of tests with an known set of messages
     add_email_corpus
 
     case $config in
@@ -49,6 +72,14 @@ for config in traditional split symlink; do
 	    split_config
 	    mv mail/.notmuch/xapian $DATABASE_PATH
 	    ;;
+	XDG)
+	    xdg_config
+	    mv mail/.notmuch/xapian $DATABASE_PATH
+	    ;;
+	XDG+profile)
+	    xdg_config ${RANDOM}
+	    mv mail/.notmuch/xapian $DATABASE_PATH
+	    ;;
 	symlink)
 	    symlink_config
 	    ;;
diff --git a/test/T560-lib-error.sh b/test/T560-lib-error.sh
index 03df69d9..89447e9a 100755
--- a/test/T560-lib-error.sh
+++ b/test/T560-lib-error.sh
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ EOF
 cat <<'EOF' >EXPECTED
 == stdout ==
 == stderr ==
-Error: Cannot open a database for a NULL path.
+Error: Cannot open database at CWD/home/.local/share/notmuch/default: No such file or directory.
 EOF
 test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT
 
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ EOF
 cat <<'EOF' >EXPECTED
 == stdout ==
 == stderr ==
-Error: Cannot open a database for a NULL path.
+Error: Cannot open database at CWD/home/.local/share/notmuch/default: No such file or directory.
 EOF
 test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT
 
diff --git a/test/T590-libconfig.sh b/test/T590-libconfig.sh
index 5cf70987..c21c139b 100755
--- a/test/T590-libconfig.sh
+++ b/test/T590-libconfig.sh
@@ -519,8 +519,8 @@ cat <<'EOF' >EXPECTED
 == stdout ==
 == stderr ==
 error opening database
-Erroneous NULL pointer
-Error: Cannot open a database for a NULL path.
+Something went wrong trying to read or write a file
+Error: Cannot open database at CWD/home/.local/share/notmuch/default: No such file or directory.
 
 EOF
 test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT