diff --git a/bin/nwg-drawer b/bin/nwg-drawer
index 47ffd6b..eb980d5 100755
Binary files a/bin/nwg-drawer and b/bin/nwg-drawer differ
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index e5d0dec..7c47e5a 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ func main() {
 
 	// For opening files we use xdg-open. As its configuration is PITA, we may override some associations
 	// in the ~/.config/nwg-panel/preferred-apps.json file.
-	paFile := filepath.Join(configDirectory, "preferred-apps.json")
+	paFile := path.Join(configDirectory, "preferred-apps.json")
 	preferredApps, err = loadPreferredApps(paFile)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Infof("Custom associations file %s not found or invalid", paFile)
@@ -271,13 +271,12 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	// Load user-defined paths excluded from file search
-	exFile := filepath.Join(configDirectory, "excluded-dirs")
+	exFile := path.Join(configDirectory, "excluded-dirs")
 	exclusions, err = loadTextFile(exFile)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Infof("Search exclusions file %s not found %s", exFile, err)
 	} else {
 		log.Infof("Found %v search exclusions in %s", len(exclusions), exFile)
-		log.Info(exclusions)
 	}
 
 	// USER INTERFACE
diff --git a/tools.go b/tools.go
index 7905315..2ef5a44 100644
--- a/tools.go
+++ b/tools.go
@@ -154,18 +154,23 @@ func oldConfigDir() (string, error) {
 	if os.Getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME") != "" {
 		dir := path.Join(os.Getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME"), "nwg-panel")
 		return dir, nil
+	} else if os.Getenv("HOME") != "" {
+		dir := path.Join(os.Getenv("HOME"), ".config/nwg-panel")
+		return dir, nil
 	}
 
 	return "", errors.New("old config dir not found")
 }
 
 func configDir() string {
-	var home string
-	home = os.Getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME")
-	if home == "" {
-		home = os.Getenv("HOME")
+	var dir string
+	if os.Getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME") != "" {
+		dir = path.Join(os.Getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME"), "nwg-drawer")
+	} else if os.Getenv("HOME") != "" {
+		dir = path.Join(os.Getenv("HOME"), ".config/nwg-drawer")
 	}
-	dir := path.Join(home, ".config/nwg-drawer")
+
+	log.Infof("Config dir: %s", dir)
 	createDir(dir)
 
 	return dir
diff --git a/uicomponents.go b/uicomponents.go
index 9376b78..a741858 100644
--- a/uicomponents.go
+++ b/uicomponents.go
@@ -291,16 +291,26 @@ func walk(path string, d fs.DirEntry, e error) error {
 	if e != nil {
 		return e
 	}
-	if !isExcluded(path) {
-		// don't search leading part of the path, as e.g. '/home/user/Pictures'
-		toSearch := strings.Split(path, ignore)[1]
-		if strings.Contains(strings.ToLower(toSearch), strings.ToLower(phrase)) {
-			// mark directories
-			if d.IsDir() {
-				fileSearchResults = append(fileSearchResults, fmt.Sprintf("#is_dir#%s", path))
-			} else {
-				fileSearchResults = append(fileSearchResults, path)
-			}
+	// don't search leading part of the path, as e.g. '/home/user/Pictures'
+	toSearch := strings.Split(path, ignore)[1]
+
+	// Remaing part of the path (w/o file name) must be checked against being present in excluded dirs
+	doSearch := true
+	parts := strings.Split(toSearch, "/")
+	remainingPart := ""
+	if len(parts) > 1 {
+		remainingPart = strings.Join(parts[:len(parts)-1], "/")
+	}
+	if remainingPart != "" && isExcluded(remainingPart) {
+		doSearch = false
+	}
+
+	if doSearch && strings.Contains(strings.ToLower(toSearch), strings.ToLower(phrase)) {
+		// mark directories
+		if d.IsDir() {
+			fileSearchResults = append(fileSearchResults, fmt.Sprintf("#is_dir#%s", path))
+		} else {
+			fileSearchResults = append(fileSearchResults, path)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -412,8 +422,11 @@ func searchUserDir(dir string) {
 		for _, path := range fileSearchResults {
 			partOfPathToShow := strings.Split(path, userDirsMap[dir])[1]
 			if partOfPathToShow != "" {
-				btn := setUpUserFileSearchResultButton(partOfPathToShow, path)
-				fileSearchResultFlowBox.Add(btn)
+				if !(strings.HasPrefix(path, "#is_dir#") && isExcluded(path)) {
+					btn := setUpUserFileSearchResultButton(partOfPathToShow, path)
+					fileSearchResultFlowBox.Add(btn)
+				}
+
 			}
 		}
 		fileSearchResultFlowBox.Hide()