diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index fe805a373..c75312dd9 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ if meson.version().version_compare('>=0.58.0')
   devenv.set('PIPEWIRE_MODULE_DIR', builddir / 'src' / 'modules')
 
   devenv.set('SPA_PLUGIN_DIR', builddir / 'spa' / 'plugins')
-  devenv.set('SPA_DATA_DIR', builddir / 'spa' / 'plugins')
+  devenv.set('SPA_DATA_DIR', srcdir / 'spa' / 'plugins')
 
   devenv.set('GST_PLUGIN_PATH', builddir / 'src'/ 'gst')
 
diff --git a/pw-uninstalled.sh b/pw-uninstalled.sh
index e328dbd9c..abf3ddcfc 100755
--- a/pw-uninstalled.sh
+++ b/pw-uninstalled.sh
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ fi
 export PIPEWIRE_CONFIG_DIR="${BUILDDIR}/src/daemon"
 # the directory with SPA plugins
 export SPA_PLUGIN_DIR="${BUILDDIR}/spa/plugins"
+export SPA_DATA_DIR="${SCRIPT_DIR}/spa/plugins"
 # the directory with pipewire modules
 export PIPEWIRE_MODULE_DIR="${BUILDDIR}/src/modules"
 export PATH="${BUILDDIR}/src/daemon:${BUILDDIR}/src/tools:${BUILDDIR}/src/examples:${PATH}"