diff --git a/binding-mri/binding-mri.cpp b/binding-mri/binding-mri.cpp
index 0bd1d96..ea0d5f2 100644
--- a/binding-mri/binding-mri.cpp
+++ b/binding-mri/binding-mri.cpp
@@ -398,17 +398,47 @@ static void showExc(VALUE exc)
 	showMsg(StringValueCStr(ms));
 }
 
+/* Appends if exists, sets if not */
+static void globalAryAppend(const char *globalName, VALUE ary)
+{
+	VALUE existing = rb_gv_get(globalName);
+
+	if (NIL_P(existing))
+		rb_gv_set(globalName, ary);
+	else
+		rb_ary_concat(existing, ary);
+}
+
 static void mriBindingExecute()
 {
 	ruby_setup();
 	rb_enc_set_default_external(rb_enc_from_encoding(rb_utf8_encoding()));
 
+	Config &conf = shState->rtData().config;
+
+	if (!conf.rubyLoadpaths.empty())
+	{
+		/* Setup custom load paths */
+		VALUE lpaths = rb_ary_new_capa(conf.rubyLoadpaths.size());
+
+		for (size_t i = 0; i < conf.rubyLoadpaths.size(); ++i)
+		{
+			std::string &path = conf.rubyLoadpaths[i];
+
+			VALUE pathv = rb_str_new(path.c_str(), path.size());
+			rb_ary_push(lpaths, pathv);
+		}
+
+		globalAryAppend("$", lpaths);
+		globalAryAppend("LOAD_PATH", lpaths);
+	}
+
 	RbData rbData;
 	shState->setBindingData(&rbData);
 
 	mriBindingInit();
 
-	std::string &customScript = shState->rtData().config.customScript;
+	std::string &customScript = conf.customScript;
 	if (!customScript.empty())
 		runCustomScript(customScript);
 	else
diff --git a/mkxp.conf.sample b/mkxp.conf.sample
index a99865a..574369e 100644
--- a/mkxp.conf.sample
+++ b/mkxp.conf.sample
@@ -135,3 +135,15 @@
 #
 # fontSub=Arial>Open Sans
 # fontSub=Times New Roman>Liberation Serif
+
+
+# Because mkxp is usually distributed as a stand alone
+# build, no predefined load paths are initialized
+# ($:, $LOAD_PATH) in the MRI backend. With this option,
+# they can be specified manually (eg. when using a system
+# libruby.so). It is however recommended to statically
+# link all required gems into libruby.so.
+# (default: none)
+#
+# rubyLoadpath=/usr/lib64/ruby/
+# rubyLoadpath=/usr/local/share/ruby/site_ruby
diff --git a/src/config.cpp b/src/config.cpp
index 6a187ad..99f2e80 100644
--- a/src/config.cpp
+++ b/src/config.cpp
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ void Config::read(int argc, char *argv[])
 	        PO_DESC_ALL
 	        ("RTP", po::value<StringVec>()->composing())
 	        ("fontSub", po::value<StringVec>()->composing())
+	        ("rubyLoadpath", po::value<StringVec>()->composing())
 	        ;
 
 	po::variables_map vm;
@@ -118,6 +119,8 @@ void Config::read(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	GUARD_ALL( fontSubs = vm["fontSub"].as<StringVec>(); );
 
+	GUARD_ALL( rubyLoadpaths = vm["rubyLoadpath"].as<StringVec>(); )
+
 #undef PO_DESC
 #undef PO_DESC_ALL
 }
diff --git a/src/config.h b/src/config.h
index b2e3218..ade57b1 100644
--- a/src/config.h
+++ b/src/config.h
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@ struct Config
 
 	std::vector<std::string> fontSubs;
 
+	std::vector<std::string> rubyLoadpaths;
+
 	/* Game INI contents */
 	struct {
 		std::string scripts;