diff --git a/bugwarrior/command.py b/bugwarrior/command.py
index 4965a5753..f876e996f 100644
--- a/bugwarrior/command.py
+++ b/bugwarrior/command.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ def _get_section_name(flavor):
 def pull(dry_run, flavor):
     """ Pull down tasks from forges and add them to your taskwarrior tasks.
 
-    Relies on configuration in ~/.bugwarriorrc
+    Relies on configuration in bugwarriorrc
     """
     twiggy.quickSetup()
     try:
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ def targets():
 @vault.command()
 def list():
     pws = lst(targets())
-    print "%i @oracle:use_keyring passwords in .bugwarriorrc" % len(pws)
+    print "%i @oracle:use_keyring passwords in bugwarriorrc" % len(pws)
     for section in pws:
         print "-", section
 
diff --git a/bugwarrior/config.py b/bugwarrior/config.py
index 94ff5ef98..43dea46f9 100644
--- a/bugwarrior/config.py
+++ b/bugwarrior/config.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 import twiggy
 from twiggy import log
 from twiggy.levels import name2level
+from xdg import BaseDirectory
 
 
 def asbool(some_value):
@@ -81,7 +82,7 @@ def load_example_rc():
 
 error_template = """
 *************************************************
-* There was a problem with your ~/.bugwarriorrc *
+* There was a problem with your bugwarriorrc    *
 *   {msg}
 * Here's an example template to help:           *
 *************************************************
@@ -131,9 +132,19 @@ def validate_config(config, main_section):
 
 def load_config(main_section):
     config = ConfigParser({'log.level': "DEBUG", 'log.file': None})
+    path = None
+    first_path = BaseDirectory.load_first_config('bugwarrior')
+    if first_path is not None:
+        path = os.path.join(first_path, 'bugwarriorrc')
+    old_path = os.path.expanduser("~/.bugwarriorrc")
+    if path is None or not os.path.exists(path):
+        if os.path.exists(old_path):
+            path = old_path
+        else:
+            path = os.path.join(BaseDirectory.save_config_path('bugwarrior'), 'bugwarriorrc')
     config.readfp(
         codecs.open(
-            os.path.expanduser("~/.bugwarriorrc"),
+            path,
             "r",
             "utf-8",
         )
diff --git a/bugwarrior/docs/common_configuration.rst b/bugwarrior/docs/common_configuration.rst
index a4ff0e38c..40f2c437f 100644
--- a/bugwarrior/docs/common_configuration.rst
+++ b/bugwarrior/docs/common_configuration.rst
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ regardless of what project was assigned by the service itself::
 Password Management
 -------------------
 
-You need not store your password in plain text in your `~/.bugwarriorrc` file; 
+You need not store your password in plain text in your `bugwarriorrc` file; 
 you can enter the following values to control where to gather your password
 from:
 
diff --git a/bugwarrior/docs/configuration.rst b/bugwarrior/docs/configuration.rst
index 2674e640a..0cb53f49b 100644
--- a/bugwarrior/docs/configuration.rst
+++ b/bugwarrior/docs/configuration.rst
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ Example Configuration
 
 ::
 
-    # Example ~/.bugwarriorrc
+    # Example bugwarriorrc
     
     # General stuff.
     [general]
diff --git a/bugwarrior/docs/using.rst b/bugwarrior/docs/using.rst
index 262bff0eb..db579ceb2 100644
--- a/bugwarrior/docs/using.rst
+++ b/bugwarrior/docs/using.rst
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ It's ideal to create a cron task like::
     */15 * * * *  /usr/bin/bugwarrior-pull
 
 Bugwarrior can emit desktop notifications when it adds or completes issues
-to and from your local ``~/.task/`` db.  If your ``~/.bugwarriorrc`` file has
+to and from your local ``~/.task/`` db.  If your ``bugwarriorrc`` file has
 notifications turned on, you'll also need to tell cron which display to use by
 adding the following to your crontab::
 
diff --git a/bugwarrior/services/activecollab2.py b/bugwarrior/services/activecollab2.py
index 6ef9e778f..592e43193 100644
--- a/bugwarrior/services/activecollab2.py
+++ b/bugwarrior/services/activecollab2.py
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ def get_issue_generator(self, user_id, project_id, project_name):
         """
         Approach:
 
-        1. Get user ID from .bugwarriorrc file
+        1. Get user ID from bugwarriorrc file
         2. Get list of tickets from /user-tasks for a given project
         3. For each ticket/task returned from #2, get ticket/task info and
            check if logged-in user is primary (look at `is_owner` and
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 0255bcf01..8bacb1138 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
           "dogpile.cache>=0.5.3",
           "lockfile>=0.9.1",
           "click",
+          "pyxdg",
       ],
       tests_require=[
           "Mock",