diff --git a/include/conf.h b/include/conf.h
index 5d293d58..efb1176b 100644
--- a/include/conf.h
+++ b/include/conf.h
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@ typedef struct _snd_config_update snd_config_update_t;
 
 extern snd_config_t *snd_config;
 
+const char *snd_config_topdir(void);
+
 int snd_config_top(snd_config_t **config);
 
 int snd_config_load(snd_config_t *config, snd_input_t *in);
diff --git a/src/alisp/alisp.c b/src/alisp/alisp.c
index 3c61bb17..4ed4ad1e 100644
--- a/src/alisp/alisp.c
+++ b/src/alisp/alisp.c
@@ -2399,7 +2399,7 @@ struct alisp_object * F_path(struct alisp_instance *instance, struct alisp_objec
 	}
 	if (!strcmp(p1->value.s, "data")) {
 		delete_tree(instance, p1);
-		return new_string(instance, ALSA_CONFIG_DIR);
+		return new_string(instance, snd_config_topdir());
 	}
 	delete_tree(instance, p1);
 	return &alsa_lisp_nil;
diff --git a/src/conf.c b/src/conf.c
index fbd90ac2..2b52b44e 100644
--- a/src/conf.c
+++ b/src/conf.c
@@ -555,6 +555,37 @@ static void free_include_paths(struct filedesc *fd)
 	}
 }
 
+/**
+ * \brief Returns the default top-level config directory
+ * \return The top-level config directory path string
+ *
+ * This function returns the string of the top-level config directory path.
+ * If the path is specified via the environment variable \c ALSA_CONFIG_DIR
+ * and the value is a valid path, it returns this value.  If unspecified, it
+ * returns the default value, "/usr/share/alsa".
+ */
+const char *snd_config_topdir(void)
+{
+	static char *topdir;
+
+	if (!topdir) {
+		topdir = getenv("ALSA_CONFIG_DIR");
+		if (!topdir || *topdir != '/' || strlen(topdir) >= PATH_MAX)
+			topdir = ALSA_CONFIG_DIR;
+	}
+	return topdir;
+}
+
+static char *_snd_config_path(const char *name)
+{
+	const char *root = snd_config_topdir();
+	char *path = malloc(strlen(root) + strlen(name) + 2);
+	if (!path)
+		return NULL;
+	sprintf(path, "%s/%s", root, name);
+	return path;
+}
+
 /*
  * Search and open a file, and creates a new input object reading from the file.
  * param inputp - The functions puts the pointer to the new input object
@@ -589,7 +620,7 @@ static int input_stdio_open(snd_input_t **inputp, const char *file,
 		return err;
 
 	/* search file in top configuration directory /usr/share/alsa */
-	snprintf(full_path, PATH_MAX, "%s/%s", ALSA_CONFIG_DIR, file);
+	snprintf(full_path, PATH_MAX, "%s/%s", snd_config_topdir(), file);
 	err = snd_input_stdio_open(inputp, full_path, "r");
 	if (err == 0)
 		goto out;
@@ -750,16 +781,10 @@ static int get_char_skip_comments(input_t *input)
 
 			if (!strncmp(str, "searchdir:", 10)) {
 				/* directory to search included files */
-				char *tmp;
-
-				tmp = malloc(strlen(ALSA_CONFIG_DIR) + 1
-					     + strlen(str + 10) + 1);
-				if (tmp == NULL) {
-					free(str);
-					return -ENOMEM;
-				}
-				sprintf(tmp, ALSA_CONFIG_DIR "/%s", str + 10);
+				char *tmp = _snd_config_path(str + 10);
 				free(str);
+				if (tmp == NULL)
+					return -ENOMEM;
 				str = tmp;
 
 				dirp = opendir(str);
@@ -781,13 +806,10 @@ static int get_char_skip_comments(input_t *input)
 
 			if (!strncmp(str, "confdir:", 8)) {
 				/* file in the specified directory */
-				char *tmp = malloc(strlen(ALSA_CONFIG_DIR) + 1 + strlen(str + 8) + 1);
-				if (tmp == NULL) {
-					free(str);
-					return -ENOMEM;
-				}
-				sprintf(tmp, ALSA_CONFIG_DIR "/%s", str + 8);
+				char *tmp = _snd_config_path(str + 8);
 				free(str);
+				if (tmp == NULL)
+					return -ENOMEM;
 				str = tmp;
 				err = snd_input_stdio_open(&in, str, "r");
 			} else { /* absolute or relative file path */
@@ -3408,9 +3430,6 @@ int snd_config_search_alias_hooks(snd_config_t *config,
 /** The name of the environment variable containing the files list for #snd_config_update. */
 #define ALSA_CONFIG_PATH_VAR "ALSA_CONFIG_PATH"
 
-/** The name of the default files used by #snd_config_update. */
-#define ALSA_CONFIG_PATH_DEFAULT ALSA_CONFIG_DIR "/alsa.conf"
-
 /**
  * \ingroup Config
  * \brief Configuration top-level node (the global configuration).
@@ -3869,8 +3888,13 @@ int snd_config_update_r(snd_config_t **_top, snd_config_update_t **_update, cons
 	configs = cfgs;
 	if (!configs) {
 		configs = getenv(ALSA_CONFIG_PATH_VAR);
-		if (!configs || !*configs)
-			configs = ALSA_CONFIG_PATH_DEFAULT;
+		if (!configs || !*configs) {
+			const char *topdir = snd_config_topdir();
+			char *s = alloca(strlen(topdir) +
+					 strlen("alsa.conf") + 2);
+			sprintf(s, "%s/alsa.conf", topdir);
+			configs = s;
+		}
 	}
 	for (k = 0, c = configs; (l = strcspn(c, ": ")) > 0; ) {
 		c += l;
diff --git a/src/confmisc.c b/src/confmisc.c
index a985f143..d5b934b6 100644
--- a/src/confmisc.c
+++ b/src/confmisc.c
@@ -588,7 +588,7 @@ int snd_func_datadir(snd_config_t **dst, snd_config_t *root ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
 	err = snd_config_get_id(src, &id);
 	if (err < 0)
 		return err;
-	return snd_config_imake_string(dst, id, ALSA_CONFIG_DIR);
+	return snd_config_imake_string(dst, id, snd_config_topdir());
 }
 #ifndef DOC_HIDDEN
 SND_DLSYM_BUILD_VERSION(snd_func_datadir, SND_CONFIG_DLSYM_VERSION_EVALUATE);
diff --git a/src/mixer/simple_abst.c b/src/mixer/simple_abst.c
index 5297472a..477c73ff 100644
--- a/src/mixer/simple_abst.c
+++ b/src/mixer/simple_abst.c
@@ -299,8 +299,12 @@ int snd_mixer_simple_basic_register(snd_mixer_t *mixer,
 	snd_mixer_class_set_private(class, priv);
 	snd_mixer_class_set_private_free(class, private_free);
 	file = getenv("ALSA_MIXER_SIMPLE");
-	if (!file)
-		file = ALSA_CONFIG_DIR "/smixer.conf";
+	if (!file) {
+		const char *topdir = snd_config_topdir();
+		char *s = alloca(strlen(topdir) + strlen("smixer.conf") + 2);
+		sprintf(s, "%s/smixer.conf", topdir);
+		file = s;
+	}
 	err = snd_config_top(&top);
 	if (err >= 0) {
 		err = snd_input_stdio_open(&input, file, "r");
diff --git a/src/topology/data.c b/src/topology/data.c
index 36060eb1..5b83b9fc 100644
--- a/src/topology/data.c
+++ b/src/topology/data.c
@@ -76,8 +76,11 @@ static int tplg_parse_data_file(snd_config_t *cfg, struct tplg_elem *elem)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
 	/* prepend alsa config directory to path */
-	snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "%s/%s",
-		env ? env : ALSA_TPLG_DIR, value);
+	if (env)
+		snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "%s/%s", env, value);
+	else
+		snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "%s/topology/%s",
+			 snd_config_topdir(), value);
 
 	fp = fopen(filename, "r");
 	if (fp == NULL) {
diff --git a/src/topology/tplg_local.h b/src/topology/tplg_local.h
index eb7eac5b..42e3201d 100644
--- a/src/topology/tplg_local.h
+++ b/src/topology/tplg_local.h
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@
 
 #define MAX_FILE		256
 #define TPLG_MAX_PRIV_SIZE	(1024 * 128)
-#define ALSA_TPLG_DIR	ALSA_CONFIG_DIR "/topology"
 
 /** The name of the environment variable containing the tplg directory */
 #define ALSA_CONFIG_TPLG_VAR "ALSA_CONFIG_TPLG"
diff --git a/src/ucm/parser.c b/src/ucm/parser.c
index b79b92db..8aa70994 100644
--- a/src/ucm/parser.c
+++ b/src/ucm/parser.c
@@ -1082,9 +1082,12 @@ static int parse_verb_file(snd_use_case_mgr_t *uc_mgr,
 	}
 
 	/* open Verb file for reading */
-	snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "%s/%s/%s",
-		env ? env : ALSA_USE_CASE_DIR,
-		uc_mgr->card_name, file);
+	if (env)
+		snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "%s/%s/%s",
+			 env, uc_mgr->card_name, file);
+	else
+		snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "%s/ucm/%s/%s",
+			 snd_config_topdir(), uc_mgr->card_name, file);
 	filename[sizeof(filename)-1] = '\0';
 	
 	err = uc_mgr_config_load(filename, &cfg);
@@ -1404,9 +1407,13 @@ static int load_master_config(const char *card_name, snd_config_t **cfg)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
-	snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename)-1,
-		"%s/%s/%s.conf", env ? env : ALSA_USE_CASE_DIR,
-		card_name, card_name);
+	if (env)
+		snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename)-1,
+			 "%s/%s/%s.conf", env, card_name, card_name);
+	else
+		snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename)-1,
+			 "%s/ucm/%s/%s.conf", snd_config_topdir(),
+			 card_name, card_name);
 	filename[MAX_FILE-1] = '\0';
 
 	err = uc_mgr_config_load(filename, cfg);
@@ -1514,8 +1521,11 @@ int uc_mgr_scan_master_configs(const char **_list[])
 	ssize_t ss;
 	struct dirent **namelist;
 
-	snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename)-1,
-		"%s", env ? env : ALSA_USE_CASE_DIR);
+	if (env)
+		snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename)-1, "%s", env);
+	else
+		snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename)-1, "%s/ucm",
+			 snd_config_topdir());
 	filename[MAX_FILE-1] = '\0';
 
 #if defined(_GNU_SOURCE) && !defined(__NetBSD__) && !defined(__FreeBSD__) && !defined(__sun)
diff --git a/src/ucm/ucm_local.h b/src/ucm/ucm_local.h
index 299a5b96..e5f59cea 100644
--- a/src/ucm/ucm_local.h
+++ b/src/ucm/ucm_local.h
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@
 
 #define MAX_FILE		256
 #define MAX_CARD_LONG_NAME	80
-#define ALSA_USE_CASE_DIR	ALSA_CONFIG_DIR "/ucm"
 
 #define SEQUENCE_ELEMENT_TYPE_CDEV	1
 #define SEQUENCE_ELEMENT_TYPE_CSET	2