diff --git a/KF5NewStuffCoreConfig.cmake.in b/KF5NewStuffCoreConfig.cmake.in
--- a/KF5NewStuffCoreConfig.cmake.in
+++ b/KF5NewStuffCoreConfig.cmake.in
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 
 include(CMakeFindDependencyMacro)
 find_dependency(KF5Attica "@KF5_DEP_VERSION@")
+include(KDEInstallDirs)
+
+set(KDE_INSTALL_KNSRCDIR "${KDE_INSTALL_DATADIR}/knsrcfiles")
 
 include("${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/KF5NewStuffCoreTargets.cmake")
 @PACKAGE_INCLUDE_CORE_QCHTARGETS@
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -55,6 +55,11 @@
         PURPOSE "Required to Get Hot New Stuff for my applicaton"
         TYPE RUNTIME)
 
+When installing your knsrc configuration file, you should install it into the location
+where KNewStuffCore expects it to be found. Do this by using the CMake variable
+KDE_INSTALL_KNSRCDIR as provided by the KNewStuffCore module. You can also handle this
+yourself, which means you will need to feed Engine::init() the full path to the knsrc file.
+
 ## Which module should you use?
 
 When building applications designed to fit in with other classic, widget based
diff --git a/src/core/engine.h b/src/core/engine.h
--- a/src/core/engine.h
+++ b/src/core/engine.h
@@ -400,6 +400,27 @@
      * @see requestData(int,int)
      */
     void setPageSize(int pageSize);
+
+    /**
+     * Get a list of all the locations which will be used when searching for knsrc
+     * files, in the order in which the search will occur.
+     *
+     * @param includeFallbackLocations Whether or not the deprecated search locations are included
+     * @return The search list for knsrc files
+     * @since 5.57
+     */
+    static QStringList configSearchLocations(bool includeFallbackLocations = false);
+    /**
+     * Sets whether or not the config file location discovery fallback should be active.
+     * If enabled (default), if the config file is not found in the knsrcfiles location,
+     * then the engine will also look in the systemwide config location (usually /etc/xdg
+     * on linux). If disabled, this fallback location will not be searched.
+     *
+     * @param enableFallback Whether or not the fallback discovery should be enabled
+     * @since 5.57
+     */
+    void setConfigLocationFallback(bool enableFallback);
+
 Q_SIGNALS:
     /**
      * Indicates a message to be added to the ui's log, or sent to a messagebox
diff --git a/src/core/engine.cpp b/src/core/engine.cpp
--- a/src/core/engine.cpp
+++ b/src/core/engine.cpp
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@
     Attica::ProviderManager *m_atticaProviderManager = nullptr;
     QStringList tagFilter;
     QStringList downloadTagFilter;
+    bool configLocationFallback = true;
 };
 
 Engine::Engine(QObject *parent)
@@ -104,20 +105,39 @@
 
     emit signalBusy(i18n("Initializing"));
 
-    KConfig conf(configfile);
-    if (conf.accessMode() == KConfig::NoAccess) {
+    QScopedPointer<KConfig> conf;
+    /// TODO KF6: This is fallback logic for an old location for the knsrc files. This should be considered deprecated in KF5,
+    /// and it would make a lot of sense to disable it entirely for KF6
+    bool isRelativeConfig = QFileInfo(configfile).isRelative();
+    QString actualConfig;
+    if (isRelativeConfig) {
+        // Don't do the expensive search unless the config is relative
+        actualConfig = QStandardPaths::locate(QStandardPaths::GenericDataLocation, QString::fromLatin1("knsrcfiles/%1").arg(configfile));
+    }
+    if (isRelativeConfig && d->configLocationFallback && actualConfig.isEmpty()) {
+        conf.reset(new KConfig(configfile));
+        qDebug() << "Using a deprecated location for the knsrc file" << configfile << " - please contact the author of the software which provides this file to get it updated to use the new location";
+    } else if (isRelativeConfig) {
+        qDebug() << "Using the NEW location for knsrc file" << configfile;
+        conf.reset(new KConfig(QString::fromLatin1("knsrcfiles/%1").arg(configfile), KConfig::FullConfig, QStandardPaths::GenericDataLocation));
+    } else {
+        qDebug() << "Absolute configuration path for" << configfile << ", this could be literally anywhere and we just do as we're told...";
+        conf.reset(new KConfig(configfile));
+    }
+
+    if (conf->accessMode() == KConfig::NoAccess) {
         emit signalErrorCode(KNSCore::ConfigFileError, i18n("Configuration file exists, but cannot be opened: \"%1\"", configfile), configfile);
         qCCritical(KNEWSTUFFCORE) << "The knsrc file '" << configfile << "' was found but could not be opened.";
         return false;
     }
 
     KConfigGroup group;
-    if (conf.hasGroup("KNewStuff3")) {
+    if (conf->hasGroup("KNewStuff3")) {
         qCDebug(KNEWSTUFFCORE) << "Loading KNewStuff3 config: " << configfile;
-        group = conf.group("KNewStuff3");
-    } else if (conf.hasGroup("KNewStuff2")) {
+        group = conf->group("KNewStuff3");
+    } else if (conf->hasGroup("KNewStuff2")) {
         qCDebug(KNEWSTUFFCORE) << "Loading KNewStuff2 config: " << configfile;
-        group = conf.group("KNewStuff2");
+        group = conf->group("KNewStuff2");
     } else {
         emit signalErrorCode(KNSCore::ConfigFileError, i18n("Configuration file is invalid: \"%1\"", configfile), configfile);
         qCCritical(KNEWSTUFFCORE) << configfile << " doesn't contain a KNewStuff3 section.";
@@ -724,3 +744,21 @@
 {
     m_pageSize = pageSize;
 }
+
+QStringList KNSCore::Engine::configSearchLocations(bool includeFallbackLocations)
+{
+    QStringList ret;
+    if(includeFallbackLocations) {
+        ret += QStandardPaths::standardLocations(QStandardPaths::GenericConfigLocation);
+    }
+    QStringList paths = QStandardPaths::standardLocations(QStandardPaths::GenericDataLocation);
+    for( const QString& path : paths) {
+        ret << QString::fromLocal8Bit("%1/knsrcfiles").arg(path);
+    }
+    return ret;
+}
+
+void KNSCore::Engine::setConfigLocationFallback(bool enableFallback)
+{
+    d->configLocationFallback = enableFallback;
+}