diff --git a/include/dir_fns.php b/include/dir_fns.php
index 585121434..5521f2738 100644
--- a/include/dir_fns.php
+++ b/include/dir_fns.php
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
 require_once('include/permissions.php');
 
 function find_upstream_directory($dirmode) {
+	$preferred = get_config('system','directory_server');
+	if($preferred)
+		return array('url' => $preferred);
 	return '';
 }