diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 8f47e8bb..61a7c501 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ config_h.set_quoted('FALLBACK_SVG_NAME', 'fallback.svg')
 libratbag_data_dir = join_paths(get_option('prefix'),
 				get_option('datadir'),
 				'libratbag')
+libratbag_data_dir_devel = join_paths(meson.source_root(), 'data', 'devices')
 config_h.set_quoted('LIBRATBAG_DATA_DIR', libratbag_data_dir)
 
 # dependencies
@@ -324,12 +325,14 @@ test_svg_files = find_program('data/gnome/check-svg.py')
 test('check-svg', test_svg_files, args : gnome_svg_files)
 
 #### tests ####
+env_test = environment()
+env_test.set('LIBRATBAG_DATA_DIR', libratbag_data_dir_devel)
+
 enable_tests = get_option('enable-tests')
 if enable_tests
 	dep_check = dependency('check', version: '>= 0.9.10')
 
 	config_h.set('BUILD_TESTS', '1')
-	env_test = environment()
 	env_test.set('RATBAG_TEST', '1')
 
 	test_context = executable('test-context',
@@ -512,6 +515,7 @@ install_man('tools/ratbagctl.1')
 config_ratbagctl_devel = configuration_data()
 config_ratbagctl_devel.set('ratbagd_sha', ratbagd_sha)
 config_ratbagctl_devel.set('MESON_BUILD_ROOT', meson.build_root())
+config_ratbagctl_devel.set('LIBRATBAG_DATA_DIR', libratbag_data_dir_devel)
 configure_file(input : 'tools/ratbagctl.devel.in',
 	       output : 'ratbagctl.devel',
 	       configuration : config_ratbagctl_devel)
@@ -519,7 +523,7 @@ configure_file(input : 'tools/ratbagctl.test.in',
 	       output : 'ratbagctl.test',
 	       configuration : config_ratbagctl_devel)
 ratbagctl_test = find_program(join_paths(meson.build_root(), 'ratbagctl.test'))
-test('ratbagctl-test', ratbagctl_test, args: ['-v'])
+test('ratbagctl-test', ratbagctl_test, args: ['-v'], env : env_test)
 
 configure_file(input : 'tools/toolbox.py',
 	       output : 'toolbox.py',
diff --git a/src/libratbag-data.c b/src/libratbag-data.c
index 4fe3586c..c132b1da 100644
--- a/src/libratbag-data.c
+++ b/src/libratbag-data.c
@@ -324,11 +324,16 @@ ratbag_device_data_new_for_id(struct ratbag *ratbag, const struct input_id *id)
 	struct ratbag_device_data *data = NULL;
 	struct dirent **files;
 	int n, nfiles;
+	const char *datadir;
 
-	n = scandir(LIBRATBAG_DATA_DIR, &files, filter_device_files, alphasort);
+	datadir = getenv("LIBRATBAG_DATA_DIR");
+	if (!datadir)
+		datadir = LIBRATBAG_DATA_DIR;
+
+	n = scandir(datadir, &files, filter_device_files, alphasort);
 	if (n <= 0) {
 		log_error(ratbag, "Unable to locate device files in %s: %s\n",
-			  LIBRATBAG_DATA_DIR, n == 0 ? "No files found" : strerror(errno));
+			  datadir, n == 0 ? "No files found" : strerror(errno));
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
@@ -337,7 +342,7 @@ ratbag_device_data_new_for_id(struct ratbag *ratbag, const struct input_id *id)
 		_cleanup_(freep) char *file = NULL;
 		int rc;
 
-		rc = xasprintf(&file, "%s/%s", LIBRATBAG_DATA_DIR, files[n]->d_name);
+		rc = xasprintf(&file, "%s/%s", datadir, files[n]->d_name);
 		if (rc == -1)
 			goto out;
 		if (file_data_matches(ratbag, file, id, &data))
diff --git a/tools/ratbagctl.devel.in b/tools/ratbagctl.devel.in
index 4a08a137..47e17432 100755
--- a/tools/ratbagctl.devel.in
+++ b/tools/ratbagctl.devel.in
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ def main(argv):
     if not os.geteuid() == 0:
         sys.exit('Script must be run as root')
 
+    os.environ['LIBRATBAG_DATA_DIR'] = '@LIBRATBAG_DATA_DIR@'
+
     if not argv:
         argv = ["list"]