diff --git a/Make.mk b/Make.mk
index ee6d1ee5..5576e47c 100644
--- a/Make.mk
+++ b/Make.mk
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ scripts = $(srcdir)/src/scripts
 depcomp = $(SHELL) $(srcdir)/depcomp
 tarball = $(SHELL) $(scripts)/tarball
 econfig := $(sysconfdir)/empire/econfig
-edatadir := $(localstatedir)/empire
+gamedir := $(localstatedir)/empire
 einfodir := $(datadir)/empire/info.nr
 ehtmldir := $(datadir)/empire/info.html
 
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ ehtmldir := $(datadir)/empire/info.html
 subst.in = sed \
 	-e 's?@configure_input\@?$(notdir $@).  Generated from $(notdir $<) by GNUmakefile.?g' \
 	-e 's?@econfig\@?$(econfig)?g'		\
-	-e 's?@edatadir\@?$(edatadir)?g'	\
+	-e 's?@gamedir\@?$(gamedir)?g'	\
 	-e 's?@einfodir\@?$(einfodir)?g'	\
 	-e 's/@EMPIREHOST\@/$(EMPIREHOST)/g'	\
 	-e 's/@EMPIREPORT\@/$(EMPIREPORT)/g'
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ install: all installdirs
 
 .PHONY: installdirs
 installdirs:
-	mkdir -p $(bindir) $(sbindir) $(edatadir) $(einfodir) $(mandir)/man1 $(mandir)/man6 $(dir $(econfig))
+	mkdir -p $(bindir) $(sbindir) $(gamedir) $(einfodir) $(mandir)/man1 $(mandir)/man6 $(dir $(econfig))
 
 .PHONY: install-html
 install-html: html | $(ehtmldir)
diff --git a/include/econfig-spec.h b/include/econfig-spec.h
index e89880ca..ff87d862 100644
--- a/include/econfig-spec.h
+++ b/include/econfig-spec.h
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ EMPCFBOTH((fvname), (vname), int, NSC_INT, KM_OPTION, (descr))
 /* econfig key definitions: */
 
 EMPCF_COMMENT("\n### Server configuration and information")
-EMPCFBOTH("data", datadir, char *, NSC_STRING, KM_INTERNAL,
+EMPCFBOTH("data", gamedir, char *, NSC_STRING, KM_INTERNAL,
     "Directory where this game's data is stored")
 EMPCFBOTH("info", infodir, char *, NSC_STRING, KM_INTERNAL,
     "Directory where info pages are stored, can be shared among games")
diff --git a/src/lib/global/path.c.in b/src/lib/global/path.c.in
index b6219c75..b1b70ebc 100644
--- a/src/lib/global/path.c.in
+++ b/src/lib/global/path.c.in
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 
 char dflt_econfig[] = "@econfig@";
 char *infodir	= "@einfodir@";
-char *datadir	= "@edatadir@";
+char *gamedir	= "@gamedir@";
 
 /* relative to DATADIR */
 char *teldir	= "tel";
diff --git a/src/server/main.c b/src/server/main.c
index 43bd8ec2..8db922b6 100644
--- a/src/server/main.c
+++ b/src/server/main.c
@@ -202,8 +202,8 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     if (emp_config(config_file) < 0)
 	exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
-    if (chdir(datadir)) {
-	fprintf(stderr, "Can't chdir to %s (%s)\n", datadir, strerror(errno));
+    if (chdir(gamedir)) {
+	fprintf(stderr, "Can't chdir to %s (%s)\n", gamedir, strerror(errno));
 	exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/util/fairland.c b/src/util/fairland.c
index 03ed39f9..2d5b7f88 100644
--- a/src/util/fairland.c
+++ b/src/util/fairland.c
@@ -435,8 +435,8 @@ allocate_memory(void)
     int i;
     char *fname;
 
-    fname = malloc(strlen(datadir) + 1 + strlen(empfile[EF_SECTOR].file) + 1);
-    sprintf(fname, "%s/%s", datadir, empfile[EF_SECTOR].file);
+    fname = malloc(strlen(gamedir) + 1 + strlen(empfile[EF_SECTOR].file) + 1);
+    sprintf(fname, "%s/%s", gamedir, empfile[EF_SECTOR].file);
     sect_fptr = fopen(fname, "wb");
     if (sect_fptr == NULL) {
 	perror(fname);
diff --git a/src/util/files.c b/src/util/files.c
index f079b2f1..6624e00e 100644
--- a/src/util/files.c
+++ b/src/util/files.c
@@ -119,19 +119,19 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
     ef_init();
 
-    if (access(datadir, F_OK) < 0 && mkdir(datadir, 0750) < 0) {
-	perror(datadir);
+    if (access(gamedir, F_OK) < 0 && mkdir(gamedir, 0750) < 0) {
+	perror(gamedir);
 	printf("Can't make game directory\n");
 	exit(1);
     }
-    if (chdir(datadir)) {
-	fprintf(stderr, "Can't chdir to %s (%s)\n", datadir, strerror(errno));
+    if (chdir(gamedir)) {
+	fprintf(stderr, "Can't chdir to %s (%s)\n", gamedir, strerror(errno));
 	exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
 
     if (!force) {
     	printf("WARNING: this blasts the existing game in %s (if any)\n",
-	   datadir);
+	       gamedir);
     	printf("continue? ");
     	fgets(buf, sizeof(buf), stdin);
     	if (*buf != 'y' && *buf != 'Y')
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
     close(creat(timestampfil, 0600));
     close(creat(annfil, 0600));
     chmod(infodir, 0750);
-    chmod(datadir, 0770);
+    chmod(gamedir, 0770);
     chmod(teldir, 0770);
 
     /* create a zero-filled sector file */