diff --git a/libs/ardour/ardour/ladspa_search_path.h b/libs/ardour/ardour/ladspa_search_path.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..791bba9188
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libs/ardour/ardour/ladspa_search_path.h
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+    Copyright (C) 2011 Tim Mayberry
+
+    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+    the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+    (at your option) any later version.
+
+    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+    GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+    along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+    Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
+
+*/
+
+#ifndef ARDOUR_LADSPA_SEARCH_PATH_INCLUDED
+#define ARDOUR_LADSPA_SEARCH_PATH_INCLUDED
+
+#include "pbd/search_path.h"
+
+namespace ARDOUR {
+
+	/**
+	 * return a SearchPath containing directories in which to look for
+	 * LADSPA plugins.
+	 *
+	 * If LADSPA_PATH is defined then the SearchPath returned
+	 * will contain the directories specified in it as well as the
+	 * user and system directories.
+	 */
+	PBD::SearchPath ladspa_search_path ();
+
+} // namespace ARDOUR
+
+#endif
diff --git a/libs/ardour/ladspa_search_path.cc b/libs/ardour/ladspa_search_path.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7b675d081d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libs/ardour/ladspa_search_path.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+/*
+    Copyright (C) 2011 Tim Mayberry
+
+    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+    the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+    (at your option) any later version.
+
+    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+    GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+    along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+    Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
+
+*/
+
+#include <glibmm/miscutils.h>
+
+#include "ardour/ladspa_search_path.h"
+#include "ardour/directory_names.h"
+#include "ardour/filesystem_paths.h"
+
+namespace {
+	const char * const ladspa_env_variable_name = "LADSPA_PATH";
+} // anonymous
+
+using namespace PBD;
+
+namespace ARDOUR {
+
+SearchPath
+ladspa_search_path ()
+{
+	SearchPath spath_env (Glib::getenv(ladspa_env_variable_name));
+
+	SearchPath spath (user_config_directory ());
+
+	spath += ardour_dll_directory ();
+	spath.add_subdirectory_to_paths (ladspa_dir_name);
+
+#ifndef WIN32
+	spath.push_back ("/usr/local/lib64/ladspa");
+	spath.push_back ("/usr/local/lib/ladspa");
+	spath.push_back ("/usr/lib64/ladspa");
+	spath.push_back ("/usr/lib/ladspa");
+	spath.push_back ("/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/LADSPA");
+#endif
+
+	return spath_env + spath;
+}
+
+} // namespace ARDOUR
diff --git a/libs/ardour/wscript b/libs/ardour/wscript
index 4e7e23aa1a..94f2445859 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/wscript
+++ b/libs/ardour/wscript
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ libardour_sources = [
         'jack_slave.cc',
         'kmeterdsp.cc',
         'ladspa_plugin.cc',
+        'ladspa_search_path.cc',
         'location.cc',
         'location_importer.cc',
         'ltc_slave.cc',