diff --git a/include/common/dir.h b/include/common/dir.h
index a9478acc..ced783c4 100644
--- a/include/common/dir.h
+++ b/include/common/dir.h
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@
 #define LABWC_DIR_H
 
 char *config_dir(void);
-char *config_dir_n(int n);
+char *user_config_dir(void);
+char *sys_config_dir(void);
 
 /**
  * theme_dir - find theme directory containing theme @theme_name
diff --git a/src/common/dir.c b/src/common/dir.c
index 09b8106b..c8bed13d 100644
--- a/src/common/dir.c
+++ b/src/common/dir.c
@@ -17,9 +17,13 @@ struct dir {
 	const char *path;
 };
 
-static struct dir config_dirs[] = {
+static struct dir user_config_dirs[] = {
 	{ "XDG_CONFIG_HOME", "labwc" },
 	{ "HOME", ".config/labwc" },
+	{ NULL, NULL }
+};
+
+static struct dir sys_config_dirs[] = {
 	{ "XDG_CONFIG_DIRS", "labwc" },
 	{ NULL, "/etc/xdg/labwc" },
 	{ NULL, NULL }
@@ -74,12 +78,12 @@ build_theme_path(struct ctx *ctx, char *prefix, const char *path)
 }
 
 static char *
-find_dir(struct ctx *ctx, int n)
+find_dir(struct ctx *ctx)
 {
 	char *debug = getenv("LABWC_DEBUG_DIR_CONFIG_AND_THEME");
 
 	for (int i = 0; ctx->dirs[i].path; i++) {
-		struct dir d = ctx->dirs[n != -1 ? n : i];
+		struct dir d = ctx->dirs[i];
 		if (!d.prefix) {
 			/* handle /etc/xdg... */
 			ctx->build_path_fn(ctx, NULL, d.path);
@@ -109,9 +113,6 @@ find_dir(struct ctx *ctx, int n)
 			}
 			g_strfreev(prefixes);
 		}
-		if (n != -1) {
-			break;
-		}
 	}
 	/* no directory was found */
 	ctx->buf[0] = '\0';
@@ -119,7 +120,7 @@ find_dir(struct ctx *ctx, int n)
 }
 
 char *
-config_dir(void)
+user_config_dir(void)
 {
 	static char buf[4096] = { 0 };
 	if (buf[0] != '\0') {
@@ -129,26 +130,35 @@ config_dir(void)
 		.build_path_fn = build_config_path,
 		.buf = buf,
 		.len = sizeof(buf),
-		.dirs = config_dirs
+		.dirs = user_config_dirs
 	};
-	return find_dir(&ctx, -1);
+	return find_dir(&ctx);
 }
 
 char *
-config_dir_n(int n)
+sys_config_dir(void)
 {
-	char buf[4096] = { 0 };
+	static char buf[4096] = { 0 };
+	if (buf[0] != '\0') {
+		return buf;
+	}
 	struct ctx ctx = {
 		.build_path_fn = build_config_path,
 		.buf = buf,
 		.len = sizeof(buf),
-		.dirs = config_dirs
+		.dirs = sys_config_dirs
 	};
-	if (n == 0) {
-		return find_dir(&ctx, getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME") ? 0 : 1);
-	} else {
-		return find_dir(&ctx, getenv("XDG_CONFIG_DIRS") ? 2 : 3);
+	return find_dir(&ctx);
+}
+
+char *
+config_dir(void)
+{
+	char *res = user_config_dir ();
+	if (res[0] != '\0') {
+		return res;
 	}
+	return sys_config_dir ();
 }
 
 char *
@@ -162,5 +172,5 @@ theme_dir(const char *theme_name)
 		.dirs = theme_dirs,
 		.theme_name = theme_name
 	};
-	return find_dir(&ctx, -1);
+	return find_dir(&ctx);
 }
diff --git a/src/config/rcxml.c b/src/config/rcxml.c
index f89a8b30..fa0d5377 100644
--- a/src/config/rcxml.c
+++ b/src/config/rcxml.c
@@ -1453,59 +1453,59 @@ validate(void)
 	validate_actions();
 }
 
-void
-rcxml_read(const char *filename)
+static void
+rcxml_read_file(const char *rcxml)
 {
 	FILE *stream;
 	char *line = NULL;
 	size_t len = 0;
 	struct buf b;
-	char rcxml[4096] = {0};
-	static char saved_filename[4096] = {0};
 
-	if (filename) {
-		snprintf(saved_filename, sizeof(rcxml), "%s", filename);
+	/* Reading file into buffer before parsing - better for unit tests */
+	stream = fopen(rcxml, "r");
+	if (!stream) {
+		wlr_log(WLR_ERROR, "cannot read (%s)", rcxml);
+	} else {
+		wlr_log(WLR_INFO, "read config file %s", rcxml);
+		buf_init(&b);
+		while (getline(&line, &len, stream) != -1) {
+			char *p = strrchr(line, '\n');
+			if (p) {
+				*p = '\0';
+			}
+			buf_add(&b, line);
+		}
+		free(line);
+		fclose(stream);
+		rcxml_parse_xml(&b);
+		free(b.buf);
 	}
+}
+
+void
+rcxml_read(const char *filename)
+{
+	char *rcxml;
+	static char saved_filename[4096] = {0};
 
 	rcxml_init();
 
-	/*
-	 * rcxml_read() can be called multiple times, but we only set rcxml[]
-	 * the first time. The specified 'filename' is only respected the first
-	 * time.
-	 */
-	for (int i = 1; i >= 0; i--) {
-		line = NULL;
-		len = 0;
-		if (filename) {
-			snprintf(rcxml, sizeof(rcxml), "%s", filename);
-			i = 0;
-		} else if (saved_filename[0] != 0) {
-			snprintf(rcxml, sizeof(rcxml), "%s", saved_filename);
-			i = 0;
-		} else {
-			snprintf(rcxml, sizeof(rcxml), "%s/rc.xml", config_dir_n(i));
-		}
-		/* Reading file into buffer before parsing - better for unit tests */
-		stream = fopen(rcxml, "r");
-		if (!stream) {
-			wlr_log(WLR_ERROR, "cannot read (%s)", rcxml);
-		} else {
-			wlr_log(WLR_INFO, "read config file %s", rcxml);
-			buf_init(&b);
-			while (getline(&line, &len, stream) != -1) {
-				char *p = strrchr(line, '\n');
-				if (p) {
-					*p = '\0';
-				}
-				buf_add(&b, line);
-			}
-			free(line);
-			fclose(stream);
-			rcxml_parse_xml(&b);
-			free(b.buf);
-		}
+	if (filename) {
+		snprintf(saved_filename, sizeof(saved_filename), "%s", filename);
+		rcxml_read_file(filename);
+	} else if (saved_filename[0] != 0) {
+		rcxml_read_file(saved_filename);
+	} else {
+		/* merge user config with system config */
+		rcxml = strdup_printf("%s/rc.xml", sys_config_dir());
+		rcxml_read_file (rcxml);
+		free (rcxml);
+
+		rcxml = strdup_printf("%s/rc.xml", user_config_dir());
+		rcxml_read_file (rcxml);
+		free (rcxml);
 	}
+
 	post_processing();
 	validate();
 }
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 2fe87f0a..04314327 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
-#include <glib.h>
 #include "common/dir.h"
 #include "common/fd_util.h"
 #include "common/font.h"
 #include "common/mem.h"
 #include "common/spawn.h"
+#include "common/string-helpers.h"
 #include "config/session.h"
 #include "labwc.h"
 #include "theme.h"
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ static const struct option long_options[] = {
 	{"debug", no_argument, NULL, 'd'},
 	{"exit", no_argument, NULL, 'e'},
 	{"help", no_argument, NULL, 'h'},
-	{"mergeconfig", no_argument, NULL, 'm'},
+	{"merge-config", no_argument, NULL, 'm'},
 	{"reconfigure", no_argument, NULL, 'r'},
 	{"startup", required_argument, NULL, 's'},
 	{"version", no_argument, NULL, 'v'},
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ static const char labwc_usage[] =
 "  -d, --debug              Enable full logging, including debug information\n"
 "  -e, --exit               Exit the compositor\n"
 "  -h, --help               Show help message and quit\n"
-"  -m, --mergeconfig        Merge user rc.xml with system rc.xml\n"
+"  -m, --merge-config       Merge user rc.xml with system rc.xml\n"
 "  -r, --reconfigure        Reload the compositor configuration\n"
 "  -s, --startup <command>  Run command on startup\n"
 "  -v, --version            Show version number and quit\n"
@@ -143,11 +143,12 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	if (!rc.config_dir) {
 		rc.config_dir = config_dir();
 		if (!merge_rc && !config_file) {
-			config_file = g_strdup_printf("%s/rc.xml", rc.config_dir);
+			config_file = strdup_printf("%s/rc.xml", rc.config_dir);
 		}
 	} else if (!config_file) {
-		config_file = g_strdup_printf("%s/rc.xml", rc.config_dir);
+		config_file = strdup_printf("%s/rc.xml", rc.config_dir);
 	}
+
 	wlr_log(WLR_INFO, "using config dir (%s)\n", rc.config_dir);
 	session_environment_init(rc.config_dir);
 	rcxml_read(config_file);