diff --git a/kate/CMakeLists.txt b/kate/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/kate/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/kate/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@
 
 install(
   PROGRAMS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/data/org.kde.kate.desktop 
-  DESTINATION ${XDG_APPS_INSTALL_DIR}
+  DESTINATION ${KDE_INSTALL_APPDIR}
 )
 
 install(
diff --git a/kwrite/CMakeLists.txt b/kwrite/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/kwrite/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/kwrite/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@
 
 install(
   FILES ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/data/org.kde.kwrite.desktop  
-  DESTINATION ${XDG_APPS_INSTALL_DIR}
+  DESTINATION ${KDE_INSTALL_APPDIR}
 )
 
 install(