diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 43d3b44d5..6a45c124a 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1239,8 +1239,6 @@ AC_SUBST(PA_SOEXT, [.so])
 AC_SUBST(pulseconfdir, ["${sysconfdir}/pulse"])
 AX_DEFINE_DIR(PA_DEFAULT_CONFIG_DIR, pulseconfdir, [Location of configuration files])
 
-AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(PA_BUILDDIR, "${ac_pwd}/src", [Location of uninstalled binaries])
-
 #### Mac OSX specific stuff #####
 
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(mac-universal,
diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 4b3efa37e..a621a3008 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -48,7 +48,9 @@ AM_CPPFLAGS = \
 	-DPA_ALSA_PATHS_DIR=\"$(alsapathsdir)\" \
 	-DPA_ALSA_PROFILE_SETS_DIR=\"$(alsaprofilesetsdir)\"
 AM_CFLAGS = \
-	$(PTHREAD_CFLAGS)
+	$(PTHREAD_CFLAGS) \
+	-DPA_SRCDIR=\"$(abs_srcdir)\" \
+	-DPA_BUILDDIR=\"$(abs_builddir)\"
 AM_CXXFLAGS = $(AM_CFLAGS)
 SERVER_CFLAGS = -D__INCLUDED_FROM_PULSE_AUDIO
 
diff --git a/src/modules/alsa/alsa-mixer.c b/src/modules/alsa/alsa-mixer.c
index b65baeb69..554a57df1 100644
--- a/src/modules/alsa/alsa-mixer.c
+++ b/src/modules/alsa/alsa-mixer.c
@@ -2373,7 +2373,7 @@ static int path_verify(pa_alsa_path *p) {
 
 static const char *get_default_paths_dir(void) {
     if (pa_run_from_build_tree())
-        return PA_BUILDDIR "/modules/alsa/mixer/paths/";
+        return PA_SRCDIR "/modules/alsa/mixer/paths/";
     else
         return PA_ALSA_PATHS_DIR;
 }
diff --git a/src/tests/alsa-mixer-path-test.c b/src/tests/alsa-mixer-path-test.c
index 1ad06ee1e..f2bc4cbf3 100644
--- a/src/tests/alsa-mixer-path-test.c
+++ b/src/tests/alsa-mixer-path-test.c
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 /* This function was copied from alsa-mixer.c */
 static const char *get_default_paths_dir(void) {
     if (pa_run_from_build_tree())
-        return PA_BUILDDIR "/modules/alsa/mixer/paths/";
+        return PA_SRCDIR "/modules/alsa/mixer/paths/";
     else
         return PA_ALSA_PATHS_DIR;
 }