diff --git a/src/common/dir.c b/src/common/dir.c
index 41c230b2..09b8106b 100644
--- a/src/common/dir.c
+++ b/src/common/dir.c
@@ -144,7 +144,11 @@ config_dir_n(int n)
 		.len = sizeof(buf),
 		.dirs = config_dirs
 	};
-	return find_dir(&ctx, n);
+	if (n == 0) {
+		return find_dir(&ctx, getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME") ? 0 : 1);
+	} else {
+		return find_dir(&ctx, getenv("XDG_CONFIG_DIRS") ? 2 : 3);
+	}
 }
 
 char *
diff --git a/src/config/rcxml.c b/src/config/rcxml.c
index 84e32264..f89a8b30 100644
--- a/src/config/rcxml.c
+++ b/src/config/rcxml.c
@@ -1474,7 +1474,7 @@ rcxml_read(const char *filename)
 	 * the first time. The specified 'filename' is only respected the first
 	 * time.
 	 */
-	for (int i = 3; i >= 0; i--) {
+	for (int i = 1; i >= 0; i--) {
 		line = NULL;
 		len = 0;
 		if (filename) {