diff --git a/spa/plugins/filter-graph/plugin_ladspa.c b/spa/plugins/filter-graph/plugin_ladspa.c
index c8a1b4209..6a43eab24 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/filter-graph/plugin_ladspa.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/filter-graph/plugin_ladspa.c
@@ -233,20 +233,25 @@ static inline const char *split_walk(const char *str, const char *delimiter, siz
 	return s;
 }
 
-static int load_ladspa_plugin(struct plugin *impl, const char *path)
+static void make_search_paths(const char **path, const char **search_dirs)
+{
+	const char *p;
+
+	while ((p = strstr(*path, "../")) != NULL)
+		*path = p + 3;
+
+	*search_dirs = getenv("LADSPA_PATH");
+	if (!*search_dirs)
+		*search_dirs = "/usr/lib64/ladspa:/usr/lib/ladspa:" LIBDIR;
+}
+
+static int load_ladspa_plugin(struct plugin *impl, const char *path, const char *search_dirs)
 {
 	int res = -ENOENT;
-	const char *search_dirs, *p, *state = NULL;
+	const char *p, *state = NULL;
 	char filename[PATH_MAX];
 	size_t len;
 
-	while ((p = strstr(path, "../")) != NULL)
-		path = p + 3;
-
-	search_dirs = getenv("LADSPA_PATH");
-	if (!search_dirs)
-		search_dirs = "/usr/lib64/ladspa:/usr/lib/ladspa:" LIBDIR;
-
 	/*
 	 * set the errno for the case when `ladspa_handle_load_by_path()`
 	 * is never called, which can only happen if the supplied
@@ -314,7 +319,7 @@ impl_init(const struct spa_handle_factory *factory,
 	struct plugin *impl;
 	uint32_t i;
 	int res;
-	const char *path = NULL;
+	const char *path = NULL, *search_dirs;
 
 	handle->get_interface = impl_get_interface;
 	handle->clear = impl_clear;
@@ -332,9 +337,11 @@ impl_init(const struct spa_handle_factory *factory,
 	if (path == NULL)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
-	if ((res = load_ladspa_plugin(impl, path)) < 0) {
-		spa_log_error(impl->log, "failed to load plugin '%s': %s",
-				path, spa_strerror(res));
+	make_search_paths(&path, &search_dirs);
+
+	if ((res = load_ladspa_plugin(impl, path, search_dirs)) < 0) {
+		spa_log_error(impl->log, "failed to load plugin '%s.so' in '%s': %s",
+				path, search_dirs, spa_strerror(res));
 		return res;
 	}