diff --git a/include/auth_ejabberd.php b/include/auth_ejabberd.php
index 0b0f263ea5..9211c5baf0 100755
--- a/include/auth_ejabberd.php
+++ b/include/auth_ejabberd.php
@@ -49,8 +49,9 @@ require_once("boot.php");
 
 global $a, $db;
 
-if (is_null($a))
-	$a = new App;
+if (is_null($a)) {
+	$a = new App(dirname(__DIR__));
+}
 
 if (is_null($db)) {
 	@include(".htconfig.php");
diff --git a/include/cli_startup.php b/include/cli_startup.php
index e8cc9483db..01ee90f421 100644
--- a/include/cli_startup.php
+++ b/include/cli_startup.php
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ function cli_startup() {
 	global $a, $db;
 
 	if (is_null($a)) {
-		$a = new App;
+		$a = new App(dirname(__DIR__));
 	}
 
 	if (is_null($db)) {
diff --git a/include/dbstructure.php b/include/dbstructure.php
index fc2424226d..e555138d48 100644
--- a/include/dbstructure.php
+++ b/include/dbstructure.php
@@ -1736,7 +1736,7 @@ function dbstructure_run(&$argv, &$argc) {
 	global $a, $db;
 
 	if (is_null($a)) {
-		$a = new App;
+		$a = new App(dirname(__DIR__));
 	}
 
 	if (is_null($db)) {
diff --git a/include/poller.php b/include/poller.php
index e626a568ef..08e71fd486 100644
--- a/include/poller.php
+++ b/include/poller.php
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ require_once("boot.php");
 function poller_run($argv, $argc){
 	global $a, $db;
 
-	if(is_null($a)) {
-		$a = new App;
+	if (is_null($a)) {
+		$a = new App(dirname(__DIR__));
 	}
 
 	if(is_null($db)) {
diff --git a/include/shadowupdate.php b/include/shadowupdate.php
index f1888f92e5..756f220ec8 100644
--- a/include/shadowupdate.php
+++ b/include/shadowupdate.php
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ function shadowupdate_run(&$argv, &$argc){
 	global $a, $db;
 
 	if (is_null($a)) {
-		$a = new App;
+		$a = new App(dirname(__DIR__));
 	}
 
 	if (is_null($db)) {
diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index 0b941d887d..639437017a 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ use Friendica\Core\Config;
 require_once 'boot.php';
 require_once 'object/BaseObject.php';
 
-$a = new App;
+$a = new App(__DIR__);
 BaseObject::set_app($a);
 
 // We assume that the index.php is called by a frontend process
diff --git a/src/App.php b/src/App.php
index c3926b622d..efb60c0386 100644
--- a/src/App.php
+++ b/src/App.php
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ class App {
 	public $module;
 	public $pager;
 	public $strings;
+	public $basepath;
 	public $path;
 	public $hooks;
 	public $timezone;
@@ -112,8 +113,10 @@ class App {
 
 	/**
 	 * @brief App constructor.
+	 *
+	 * @param string $basepath Path to the app base folder
 	 */
-	function __construct() {
+	function __construct($basepath) {
 
 		global $default_timezone;
 
@@ -154,13 +157,6 @@ class App {
 
 		startup();
 
-		set_include_path(
-			get_include_path() . PATH_SEPARATOR
-			. 'include' . PATH_SEPARATOR
-			. 'library' . PATH_SEPARATOR
-			. 'library/langdet' . PATH_SEPARATOR
-			. '.');
-
 		$this->scheme = 'http';
 
 		if ((x($_SERVER, 'HTTPS') && $_SERVER['HTTPS']) ||
@@ -195,6 +191,20 @@ class App {
 			$this->hostname = $hostname;
 		}
 
+		if (! static::directory_usable($basepath)) {
+			throw new Exception('Basepath ' . $basepath . ' isn\'t usable.');
+		}
+
+		$this->basepath = rtrim($basepath, DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
+
+		set_include_path(
+			get_include_path() . PATH_SEPARATOR
+			. $this->basepath . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'include' . PATH_SEPARATOR
+			. $this->basepath . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'library' . PATH_SEPARATOR
+			. $this->basepath . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'library/langdet' . PATH_SEPARATOR
+			. $this->basepath);
+
+
 		if (is_array($_SERVER['argv']) && $_SERVER['argc'] > 1 && substr(end($_SERVER['argv']), 0, 4) == 'http') {
 			$this->set_baseurl(array_pop($_SERVER['argv']));
 			$_SERVER['argc'] --;
@@ -284,18 +294,28 @@ class App {
 		self::$a = $this;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * @brief Returns the base filesystem path of the App
+	 *
+	 * It first checks for the internal variable, then for DOCUMENT_ROOT and
+	 * finally for PWD
+	 *
+	 * @return string
+	 */
 	public static function get_basepath() {
-		$basepath = get_config('system', 'basepath');
-
-		if ($basepath == '') {
-			$basepath = dirname(__FILE__);
+		if (isset($this)) {
+			$basepath = $this->basepath;
 		}
 
-		if ($basepath == '') {
+		if (! $basepath) {
+			$basepath = Config::get('system', 'basepath');
+		}
+
+		if (! $basepath && x($_SERVER, 'DOCUMENT_ROOT')) {
 			$basepath = $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'];
 		}
 
-		if ($basepath == '') {
+		if (! $basepath && x($_SERVER, 'PWD')) {
 			$basepath = $_SERVER['PWD'];
 		}
 
@@ -900,10 +920,10 @@ class App {
 			return;
 		}
 
-		if (get_config('system', 'proc_windows')) {
-			$resource = proc_open('cmd /c start /b ' . $cmdline, array(), $foo, dirname(__FILE__));
+		if (Config::get('system', 'proc_windows')) {
+			$resource = proc_open('cmd /c start /b ' . $cmdline, array(), $foo, $this->get_basepath());
 		} else {
-			$resource = proc_open($cmdline . ' &', array(), $foo, dirname(__FILE__));
+			$resource = proc_open($cmdline . ' &', array(), $foo, $this->get_basepath());
 		}
 		if (!is_resource($resource)) {
 			logger('We got no resource for command ' . $cmdline, LOGGER_DEBUG);
diff --git a/util/db_update.php b/util/db_update.php
index 5c71046d31..1e717e9875 100644
--- a/util/db_update.php
+++ b/util/db_update.php
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ use Friendica\App;
  */
 require_once("boot.php");
 
-$a = new App;
+$a = new App(dirname(__DIR__));
 @include(".htconfig.php");
 
 $lang = get_browser_language();
diff --git a/util/maintenance.php b/util/maintenance.php
index 3b917aef19..40634e0d89 100644
--- a/util/maintenance.php
+++ b/util/maintenance.php
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ use Friendica\Core\Config;
 
 require_once("boot.php");
 
-$a = new App;
+$a = new App(dirname(__DIR__));
 @include(".htconfig.php");
 
 $lang = get_browser_language();
diff --git a/util/typo.php b/util/typo.php
index 2b60b319ed..522fe41001 100644
--- a/util/typo.php
+++ b/util/typo.php
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ ini_set('log_errors', '0');
 
 include 'boot.php';
 
-$a = new App();
+$a = new App(dirname(__DIR__));
 
 if (x($a->config, 'php_path')) {
 	$phpath = $a->config['php_path'];