diff --git a/daemon/gdm-session-worker.c b/daemon/gdm-session-worker.c
index d3e008b96c2d2d9cc1815178c48974247e991a62..b2db680e8884a949cce92cf44bb7dd68ae4717cf 100644
--- a/daemon/gdm-session-worker.c
+++ b/daemon/gdm-session-worker.c
@@ -1234,10 +1234,11 @@ gdm_session_worker_initialize_pam (GdmSessionWorker   *worker,
         pam_conversation.appdata_ptr = worker;
 
         gdm_session_worker_start_auditor (worker);
-        error_code = pam_start (service,
-                                username,
-                                &pam_conversation,
-                                &worker->pam_handle);
+        error_code = pam_start_confdir (service,
+                                        username,
+                                        &pam_conversation,
+                                        PAM_PROFILES_DIR,
+                                        &worker->pam_handle);
         if (error_code != PAM_SUCCESS) {
                 g_debug ("GdmSessionWorker: could not initialize PAM: (error code %d)", error_code);
                 /* we don't use pam_strerror here because it requires a valid