diff --git a/code/ryzom/client/src/sheet_manager.cpp b/code/ryzom/client/src/sheet_manager.cpp
index fff3c5162..5ac3d2831 100644
--- a/code/ryzom/client/src/sheet_manager.cpp
+++ b/code/ryzom/client/src/sheet_manager.cpp
@@ -674,7 +674,7 @@ void CSheetManager::loadAllSheet(NLMISC::IProgressCallback &callBack, bool updat
 					path.clear();
 				}
 				if(path.empty())
-					path = "../../client/data/" + TypeVersion[i].Type + ".packed_sheets";
+					path = CPath::standardizePath(_OutputDataPath) + TypeVersion[i].Type + ".packed_sheets";
 				::loadForm(extensions, path, entitySheetContainer, updatePackedSheet);
 
 				TEntitySheetMap::iterator it = entitySheetContainer.begin();
diff --git a/code/ryzom/client/src/sheet_manager.h b/code/ryzom/client/src/sheet_manager.h
index ee504f9fd..c0ba386a2 100644
--- a/code/ryzom/client/src/sheet_manager.h
+++ b/code/ryzom/client/src/sheet_manager.h
@@ -203,11 +203,20 @@ public:
 	/// dump all visual slots indexes in a file
 	void dumpVisualSlotsIndex();
 
+	/// Set output data path
+	void setOutputDataPath(const std::string &dataPath) { _OutputDataPath = dataPath; }
+
+	/// Return output data path
+	const std::string& getOutputDataPath() const { return _OutputDataPath; }
+
 private:
 	typedef std::vector<CItemSheet *>	TItemVector;
 	typedef std::vector<TItemVector>	TSlots;
 	TSlots								_VisualSlots;
 
+	// directory where to create .packed_sheets
+	std::string							_OutputDataPath;
+
 
 protected:
 
diff --git a/code/ryzom/tools/sheets_packer/sheets_packer_init.cpp b/code/ryzom/tools/sheets_packer/sheets_packer_init.cpp
index 9e1afe071..02f115d03 100644
--- a/code/ryzom/tools/sheets_packer/sheets_packer_init.cpp
+++ b/code/ryzom/tools/sheets_packer/sheets_packer_init.cpp
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ bool init()
 	// load packed sheets	
 	nlinfo("Loading sheets...");
 	IProgressCallback callback;
+	SheetMngr.setOutputDataPath(AppCfg.OutputDataPath);
 	SheetMngr.load (callback, true, true);
 
 	// Make the lmconts.packed file