diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f7b466fdc..b7bf4485c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -26,8 +26,6 @@ CXXFLAGS = -Wall -Wextra -ggdb -I"$(shell pwd)" -I${DESTDIR}/include -MD -D_YOSY
 LDFLAGS = -L${DESTDIR}/lib
 LDLIBS = -lstdc++ -lreadline -lm -ldl
 
-export PATH := $(PWD):$(DESTDIR)/bin:$(PATH)
-
 ifeq (Darwin,$(findstring Darwin,$(shell uname)))
 	# add macports include and library path to search directories, don't use '-rdynamic' and '-lrt':
 	CXXFLAGS += -I/opt/local/include
diff --git a/kernel/driver.cc b/kernel/driver.cc
index ce95cad4f..da4962b82 100644
--- a/kernel/driver.cc
+++ b/kernel/driver.cc
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <libgen.h>
 #include <dlfcn.h>
+#include <limits.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 
 #include <algorithm>
@@ -427,42 +428,46 @@ extern RTLIL::Design *yosys_get_design()
 	return yosys_design;
 }
 
-std::string rewrite_yosys_exe(std::string exe)
+#if defined(__linux__)
+std::string proc_self_dirname ()
 {
-	char buffer[1024];
-	ssize_t buflen = readlink("/proc/self/exe", buffer, sizeof(buffer)-1);
-
-	if (buflen < 0)
-		return exe;
-
-	buffer[buflen] = 0;
-	std::string newexe = stringf("%s/%s", dirname(buffer), exe.c_str());
-	if (access(newexe.c_str(), X_OK) == 0)
-		return newexe;
-
-	return exe;
+	char path [PATH_MAX];
+	ssize_t buflen = readlink("/proc/self/exe", path, sizeof(path));
+	if (buflen < 0) {
+		log_cmd_error("readlink(\"/proc/self/exe\") failed: %s", strerror(errno));
+		log_abort();
+	}
+	while (buflen > 0 && path[buflen-1] != '/')
+		buflen--;
+	return std::string(path, buflen);
 }
-
-std::string get_share_file_name(std::string file)
+#elif defined(__APPLE__)
+#include <mach-o/dyld.h>
+std::string proc_self_dirname ()
 {
-	char buffer[1024];
-	ssize_t buflen = readlink("/proc/self/exe", buffer, sizeof(buffer)-1);
+	char * path = NULL;
+	uint32_t buflen = 0;
+	while (_NSGetExecutablePath(path, &buflen) != 0)
+		path = (char *) realloc((void *) path, buflen);
+	while (buflen > 0 && path[buflen-1] != '/')
+		buflen--;
+	return std::string(path, buflen);
+}
+#else
+	#error Dont know how to determine process executable base path!
+#endif
 
-	if (buflen < 0)
-		log_error("Can't find file `%s': reading of /proc/self/exe failed!\n", file.c_str());
-
-	buffer[buflen] = 0;
-	const char *dir = dirname(buffer);
-
-	std::string newfile_inplace = stringf("%s/share/%s", dir, file.c_str());
-	if (access(newfile_inplace.c_str(), F_OK) == 0)
-		return newfile_inplace;
-
-	std::string newfile_system = stringf("%s/../share/yosys/%s", dir, file.c_str());
-	if (access(newfile_system.c_str(), F_OK) == 0)
-		return newfile_system;
-
-	log_error("Can't find file `%s': no `%s' and no `%s' found!\n", file.c_str(), newfile_inplace.c_str(), newfile_system.c_str());
+std::string proc_share_dirname ()
+{
+	std::string proc_self_path = proc_self_dirname();
+	std::string proc_share_path = proc_self_path + "share/";
+	if (access(proc_share_path.c_str(), X_OK) == 0)
+		return proc_share_path;
+	proc_share_path = proc_self_path + "../share/yosys/";
+	if (access(proc_share_path.c_str(), X_OK) == 0)
+		return proc_share_path;
+	log_cmd_error("proc_share_dirname: unable to determine share/ directory!");
+	log_abort();
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
diff --git a/kernel/register.h b/kernel/register.h
index b582f98c9..f3d3f70ae 100644
--- a/kernel/register.h
+++ b/kernel/register.h
@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@ extern const char *yosys_version_str;
 
 // implemented in driver.cc
 extern RTLIL::Design *yosys_get_design();
-std::string rewrite_yosys_exe(std::string exe);
-std::string get_share_file_name(std::string file);
+extern std::string proc_self_dirname();
+extern std::string proc_share_dirname();
 const char *create_prompt(RTLIL::Design *design, int recursion_counter);
 
 // from passes/cmds/design.cc
diff --git a/passes/abc/abc.cc b/passes/abc/abc.cc
index 286b750cc..30e78e588 100644
--- a/passes/abc/abc.cc
+++ b/passes/abc/abc.cc
@@ -969,7 +969,7 @@ struct AbcPass : public Pass {
 		log_header("Executing ABC pass (technology mapping using ABC).\n");
 		log_push();
 
-		std::string exe_file = rewrite_yosys_exe("yosys-abc");
+		std::string exe_file = proc_self_dirname() + "yosys-abc";
 		std::string script_file, liberty_file, constr_file, clk_str;
 		bool dff_mode = false, keepff = false, cleanup = true;
 		int lut_mode = 0;
diff --git a/passes/cmds/show.cc b/passes/cmds/show.cc
index fdccb4bcc..bf37e5dae 100644
--- a/passes/cmds/show.cc
+++ b/passes/cmds/show.cc
@@ -751,7 +751,8 @@ struct ShowPass : public Pass {
 				log_cmd_error("Shell command failed!\n");
 		} else
 		if (format.empty()) {
-			std::string cmd = stringf("fuser -s '%s' || '%s' '%s' &", out_file.c_str(), rewrite_yosys_exe("yosys-svgviewer").c_str(), out_file.c_str());
+			std::string svgviewer = proc_self_dirname() + "yosys-svgviewer";
+			std::string cmd = stringf("fuser -s '%s' || '%s' '%s' &", out_file.c_str(), svgviewer.c_str(), out_file.c_str());
 			log("Exec: %s\n", cmd.c_str());
 			if (system(cmd.c_str()) != 0)
 				log_cmd_error("Shell command failed!\n");
diff --git a/passes/techmap/techmap.cc b/passes/techmap/techmap.cc
index 937f41315..0ca601e3b 100644
--- a/passes/techmap/techmap.cc
+++ b/passes/techmap/techmap.cc
@@ -548,13 +548,14 @@ struct TechmapPass : public Pass {
 		int max_iter = -1;
 
 		size_t argidx;
+		std::string proc_share_path = proc_share_dirname();
 		for (argidx = 1; argidx < args.size(); argidx++) {
 			if (args[argidx] == "-map" && argidx+1 < args.size()) {
 				map_files.push_back(args[++argidx]);
 				continue;
 			}
 			if (args[argidx] == "-share_map" && argidx+1 < args.size()) {
-				map_files.push_back(get_share_file_name(args[++argidx]));
+				map_files.push_back(proc_share_path + args[++argidx]);
 				continue;
 			}
 			if (args[argidx] == "-max_iter" && argidx+1 < args.size()) {