diff --git a/includes/common.inc b/includes/common.inc
index 050e8e77fd05e9c32cff8ecd5d7aca1eb37f775c..876e3ae3f564a450e1179f85423cc8942b29a247 100644
--- a/includes/common.inc
+++ b/includes/common.inc
@@ -4491,7 +4491,7 @@ function _drupal_bootstrap_full() {
     return;
   }
   $called = 1;
-  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/path.inc';
+  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . variable_get('path_inc', 'includes/path.inc');
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/theme.inc';
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/pager.inc';
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/menu.inc';
diff --git a/includes/theme.maintenance.inc b/includes/theme.maintenance.inc
index 1698630b5dcefba6e388686be8847f621426fe1d..1e61ed0714c7cd282e7aa458507ac9c224c53519 100644
--- a/includes/theme.maintenance.inc
+++ b/includes/theme.maintenance.inc
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ function _drupal_maintenance_theme() {
     return;
   }
 
-  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/path.inc';
+  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . variable_get('path_inc', 'includes/path.inc');
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/theme.inc';
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/common.inc';
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/unicode.inc';
diff --git a/install.php b/install.php
index 4ee60902d2146ff28651c7864c09f9aab2f8dbde..3cdea337502148fca2b87f1bdf12660ceddcbb99 100644
--- a/install.php
+++ b/install.php
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ function install_begin_request(&$install_state) {
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/modules/system/system.install';
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/common.inc';
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/file.inc';
-  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/path.inc';
+  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . variable_get('path_inc', 'includes/path.inc');
 
   // Load module basics (needed for hook invokes).
   include_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/module.inc';
diff --git a/modules/node/node.module b/modules/node/node.module
index 8561fcb11a52038fec97e129aa3ee323c7e0b9cb..24c09995d8d349c9613a2bf6fe32665a7b9dfcf5 100644
--- a/modules/node/node.module
+++ b/modules/node/node.module
@@ -1281,7 +1281,7 @@ function node_language_negotiation_info() {
  *   A valid language code on succes, FALSE otherwise.
  */
 function node_language_provider($languages) {
-  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/path.inc';
+  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . variable_get('path_inc', 'includes/path.inc');
 
   $path = isset($_GET['q']) ? $_GET['q'] : '';
   list($language, $path) = language_url_split_prefix($path, $languages);