diff --git a/src/akonadicontrol/agentmanager.cpp b/src/akonadicontrol/agentmanager.cpp
--- a/src/akonadicontrol/agentmanager.cpp
+++ b/src/akonadicontrol/agentmanager.cpp
@@ -539,7 +539,7 @@
             }
 
             if (agentInfo.launchMethod == AgentType::Process) {
-                const QString executable = QStandardPaths::findExecutable(agentInfo.exec);
+                const QString executable = Akonadi::StandardDirs::findExecutable(agentInfo.exec);
                 if (executable.isEmpty()) {
                     qCWarning(AKONADICONTROL_LOG) << "Executable" << agentInfo.exec << "for agent" << agentInfo.identifier << "could not be found!";
                     continue;
diff --git a/src/akonadicontrol/agentprocessinstance.cpp b/src/akonadicontrol/agentprocessinstance.cpp
--- a/src/akonadicontrol/agentprocessinstance.cpp
+++ b/src/akonadicontrol/agentprocessinstance.cpp
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "agenttype.h"
 #include "processcontrol.h"
 #include "akonadicontrol_debug.h"
+#include "private/standarddirs_p.h"
 
 #include <QStandardPaths>
 
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@
              agentInfo.launchMethod == AgentType::Launcher);
 
     const QString executable = (agentInfo.launchMethod == AgentType::Process)
-                               ? QStandardPaths::findExecutable(agentInfo.exec) : agentInfo.exec;
+                               ? Akonadi::StandardDirs::findExecutable(agentInfo.exec) : agentInfo.exec;
 
     if (executable.isEmpty()) {
         qCWarning(AKONADICONTROL_LOG) << "Unable to find agent executable" << agentInfo.exec;
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@
     } else {
         Q_ASSERT(agentInfo.launchMethod == AgentType::Launcher);
         const QStringList arguments = QStringList() << executable << identifier();
-        const QString agentLauncherExec = QStandardPaths::findExecutable(QStringLiteral("akonadi_agent_launcher"));
+        const QString agentLauncherExec = Akonadi::StandardDirs::findExecutable(QStringLiteral("akonadi_agent_launcher"));
         mController->start(agentLauncherExec, arguments);
     }
     return true;
diff --git a/src/private/standarddirs.cpp b/src/private/standarddirs.cpp
--- a/src/private/standarddirs.cpp
+++ b/src/private/standarddirs.cpp
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "instance_p.h"
 #include "akonadi-prefix.h"
 
+#include <QCoreApplication>
 #include <QStandardPaths>
 #include <QFile>
 #include <QFileInfo>
@@ -186,3 +187,12 @@
     }
     return dirs;
 }
+
+QString StandardDirs::findExecutable(const QString &executableName)
+{
+    QString executable = QStandardPaths::findExecutable(executableName, {qApp->applicationDirPath()});
+    if (executable.isEmpty()) {
+        executable = QStandardPaths::findExecutable(executableName);
+    }
+    return executable;
+}
diff --git a/src/private/standarddirs_p.h b/src/private/standarddirs_p.h
--- a/src/private/standarddirs_p.h
+++ b/src/private/standarddirs_p.h
@@ -104,6 +104,13 @@
  */
 AKONADIPRIVATE_EXPORT QStringList locateAllResourceDirs(const QString &relPath);
 
+/**
+ * Equivalent to QStandardPaths::findExecutable() but it looks in
+ * qApp->applicationDirPath() first.
+ */
+
+AKONADIPRIVATE_EXPORT QString findExecutable(const QString &relPath);
+
 }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/widgets/selftestdialog.cpp b/src/widgets/selftestdialog.cpp
--- a/src/widgets/selftestdialog.cpp
+++ b/src/widgets/selftestdialog.cpp
@@ -393,7 +393,7 @@
 
 void SelfTestDialog::testAkonadiCtl()
 {
-    const QString path = QStandardPaths::findExecutable(QStringLiteral("akonadictl"));
+    const QString path = Akonadi::StandardDirs::findExecutable(QStringLiteral("akonadictl"));
     if (path.isEmpty()) {
         report(Error, ki18n("akonadictl not found"),
                ki18n("The program 'akonadictl' needs to be accessible in $PATH. "