diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 27b15162a..68f7794d1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ UBUNTUTOUCH_SDL_DIR:=$(UBUNTUTOUCH_DIR)/ubuntu-touch-sdl
 WIN32_DIR=$(PLATFORM_DIR)/win32
 
 # files to link from main directory
-INSTALL_FILES=reader.lua frontend resources defaults.lua datastorage.lua l10n tools \
-		README.md COPYING
+INSTALL_FILES=reader.lua setupkoenv.lua frontend resources defaults.lua datastorage.lua \
+		l10n tools README.md COPYING
 
 # for gettext
 DOMAIN=koreader
@@ -359,7 +359,7 @@ po:
 
 static-check:
 	@if which luacheck > /dev/null; then \
-			luacheck -q frontend plugins; \
+			luacheck -q {reader,setupkoenv,datastorage}.lua frontend plugins; \
 		else \
 			echo "[!] luacheck not found. "\
 			"you can install it with 'luarocks install luacheck'"; \
diff --git a/datastorage.lua b/datastorage.lua
index 8d49e6617..e57f0ff99 100644
--- a/datastorage.lua
+++ b/datastorage.lua
@@ -34,13 +34,12 @@ function DataStorage:getSettingsDir()
 end
 
 local function initDataDir()
-    local data_dir = DataStorage:getDataDir()
     local sub_data_dirs = {
         "cache", "clipboard", "data", "history",
         "ota", "screenshots", "settings",
     }
     for _, dir in ipairs(sub_data_dirs) do
-        local sub_data_dir = data_dir .. "/" .. dir
+        local sub_data_dir = DataStorage:getDataDir() .. "/" .. dir
         if lfs.attributes(sub_data_dir, "mode") ~= "directory" then
             lfs.mkdir(sub_data_dir)
         end
diff --git a/kodev b/kodev
index 9f8ccb5a3..6ce99864e 100755
--- a/kodev
+++ b/kodev
@@ -379,6 +379,12 @@ case $1 in
         shift 1; kodev-run "$@" ;;
     test)
         shift 1; kodev-test "$@" ;;
+    prompt)
+        kodev-build
+        pushd "${EMU_DIR}"
+            ./luajit -i setupkoenv.lua
+        popd
+        ;;
     log)
         shift 1; kodev-log "$@" ;;
     --help | -h)
diff --git a/reader.lua b/reader.lua
index d8d2379f0..769e76b42 100755
--- a/reader.lua
+++ b/reader.lua
@@ -14,37 +14,19 @@ io.stdout:flush()
 
 
 -- load default settings
-require "defaults"
+require("defaults")
 local DataStorage = require("datastorage")
 pcall(dofile, DataStorage:getDataDir() .. "/defaults.persistent.lua")
 
--- set search path for 'require()'
-package.path =
-    "common/?.lua;rocks/share/lua/5.1/?.lua;frontend/?.lua;" ..
-    package.path
-package.cpath =
-    "common/?.so;common/?.dll;/usr/lib/lua/?.so;rocks/lib/lua/5.1/?.so;" ..
-    package.cpath
-
--- set search path for 'ffi.load()'
-local ffi = require("ffi")
-local util = require("ffi/util")
-ffi.cdef[[
-    char *getenv(const char *name);
-    int putenv(const char *envvar);
-    int _putenv(const char *envvar);
-]]
-if ffi.os == "Windows" then
-    ffi.C._putenv("PATH=libs;common;")
-end
+require("setupkoenv")
 
-local _ = require("gettext")
 -- read settings and check for language override
 -- has to be done before requiring other files because
 -- they might call gettext on load
 G_reader_settings = require("luasettings"):open(
     DataStorage:getDataDir().."/settings.reader.lua")
 local lang_locale = G_reader_settings:readSetting("language")
+local _ = require("gettext")
 if lang_locale then
     _.changeLang(lang_locale)
 end
diff --git a/setupkoenv.lua b/setupkoenv.lua
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4b4513f15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setupkoenv.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+-- set search path for 'require()'
+package.path =
+    "common/?.lua;rocks/share/lua/5.1/?.lua;frontend/?.lua;" ..
+    package.path
+package.cpath =
+    "common/?.so;common/?.dll;/usr/lib/lua/?.so;rocks/lib/lua/5.1/?.so;" ..
+    package.cpath
+
+-- set search path for 'ffi.load()'
+local ffi = require("ffi")
+ffi.cdef[[
+    char *getenv(const char *name);
+    int putenv(const char *envvar);
+    int _putenv(const char *envvar);
+]]
+if ffi.os == "Windows" then
+    ffi.C._putenv("PATH=libs;common;")
+end
+local ffi_load = ffi.load
+-- patch ffi.load for thirdparty luajit libraries
+ffi.load = function(lib)
+    local loaded, re = pcall(ffi_load, lib)
+    if loaded then return re end
+
+    local lib_path = package.searchpath(lib, "./lib?.so;./libs/lib?.so")
+    if not lib_path then
+        error('Not able to load dynamic library: ' .. lib)
+    else
+        return ffi_load(lib_path)
+    end
+end