diff --git a/gtk/main.c b/gtk/main.c
index e44a7158e..39af6802e 100644
--- a/gtk/main.c
+++ b/gtk/main.c
@@ -2061,6 +2061,26 @@ static void sigint_handler(int signum){
 	gtk_main_quit();
 }
 
+static void populate_xdg_data_dirs_envvar(void) {
+#ifndef WIN32
+	int i;
+	const gchar *value = g_getenv("XDG_DATA_DIRS");
+	if(value && strlen(value)) {
+		gchar **paths = g_strsplit(value, ":", -1);
+		for(i=0; paths[i] && strcmp(paths[i], PACKAGE_DATA_DIR) != 0; i++);
+		if(paths[i] == NULL) {
+			gchar *new_value = g_strdup_printf("%s:%s", value, PACKAGE_DATA_DIR);
+			g_setenv("XDG_DATA_DIRS", new_value, TRUE);
+			g_free(new_value);
+		}
+		g_strfreev(paths);
+	} else {
+		g_warning("The XDG_DATA_DIRS environment variable is not set. If you experience missing icons, "
+			"consider setting it");
+	}
+#endif
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char *argv[]){
 	char *config_file;
 	const char *factory_config_file;
@@ -2089,6 +2109,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]){
 	/*for pulseaudio:*/
 	g_setenv("PULSE_PROP_media.role", "phone", TRUE);
 #endif
+	
+	populate_xdg_data_dirs_envvar();
 
 	lang=linphone_gtk_get_lang(config_file);
 	if (lang == NULL || lang[0]=='\0'){