diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 8e768beb..a8b47781 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -83,7 +83,8 @@ mod test {
     // Run once before tests are executed.
     #[ctor]
     fn setup_schema() {
-        let schema_dir = concat!(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"), "/data");
+        let schema_dir = &env::var("GSETTINGS_SCHEMA_DIR")
+            .unwrap_or(concat!(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"), "/data").into());
 
         let output = Command::new("glib-compile-schemas")
             .arg(schema_dir)
diff --git a/src/meson.build b/src/meson.build
index a5a4637c..ae0fde16 100644
--- a/src/meson.build
+++ b/src/meson.build
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ test(
   ],
   env: [
     'RUST_BACKTRACE=1',
+    'GSETTINGS_SCHEMA_DIR=@0@/data'.format(meson.project_build_root()),
     cargo_env
   ],
   timeout: 300, # give cargo more time