diff --git a/docs/usage_general.rst.inc b/docs/usage_general.rst.inc
index 3c6191438..c87a8b8b4 100644
--- a/docs/usage_general.rst.inc
+++ b/docs/usage_general.rst.inc
@@ -197,6 +197,8 @@ Directories and files:
     BORG_CACHE_DIR
         Default to '~/.cache/borg'. This directory contains the local cache and might need a lot
         of space for dealing with big repositories).
+    BORG_CONFIG_DIR
+        Default to '~/.config/borg'. This directory contains the whole config directories.
 
 Building:
     BORG_OPENSSL_PREFIX
diff --git a/src/borg/helpers.py b/src/borg/helpers.py
index f1721c52b..82e77a0ee 100644
--- a/src/borg/helpers.py
+++ b/src/borg/helpers.py
@@ -482,8 +482,7 @@ def get_home_dir():
 def get_keys_dir():
     """Determine where to repository keys and cache"""
 
-    xdg_config = os.environ.get('XDG_CONFIG_HOME', os.path.join(get_home_dir(), '.config'))
-    keys_dir = os.environ.get('BORG_KEYS_DIR', os.path.join(xdg_config, 'borg', 'keys'))
+    keys_dir = os.environ.get('BORG_KEYS_DIR', os.path.join(get_config_dir(), 'keys'))
     if not os.path.exists(keys_dir):
         os.makedirs(keys_dir)
         os.chmod(keys_dir, stat.S_IRWXU)
@@ -492,8 +491,7 @@ def get_keys_dir():
 
 def get_security_dir(repository_id=None):
     """Determine where to store local security information."""
-    xdg_config = os.environ.get('XDG_CONFIG_HOME', os.path.join(get_home_dir(), '.config'))
-    security_dir = os.environ.get('BORG_SECURITY_DIR', os.path.join(xdg_config, 'borg', 'security'))
+    security_dir = os.environ.get('BORG_SECURITY_DIR', os.path.join(get_config_dir(), 'security'))
     if repository_id:
         security_dir = os.path.join(security_dir, repository_id)
     if not os.path.exists(security_dir):
@@ -519,6 +517,16 @@ def get_cache_dir():
     return cache_dir
 
 
+def get_config_dir():
+    """Determine where to store whole config"""
+    xdg_config = os.environ.get('XDG_CONFIG_HOME', os.path.join(get_home_dir(), '.config'))
+    config_dir = os.environ.get('BORG_CONFIG_DIR', os.path.join(xdg_config, 'borg'))
+    if not os.path.exists(config_dir):
+        os.makedirs(config_dir)
+        os.chmod(config_dir, stat.S_IRWXU)
+    return config_dir
+
+
 def to_localtime(ts):
     """Convert datetime object from UTC to local time zone"""
     return datetime(*time.localtime((ts - datetime(1970, 1, 1, tzinfo=timezone.utc)).total_seconds())[:6])
diff --git a/src/borg/testsuite/helpers.py b/src/borg/testsuite/helpers.py
index 2a4160d2c..15c029f5c 100644
--- a/src/borg/testsuite/helpers.py
+++ b/src/borg/testsuite/helpers.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ from ..helpers import Buffer
 from ..helpers import partial_format, format_file_size, parse_file_size, format_timedelta, format_line, PlaceholderError, replace_placeholders
 from ..helpers import make_path_safe, clean_lines
 from ..helpers import interval, prune_within, prune_split
-from ..helpers import get_cache_dir, get_keys_dir, get_security_dir
+from ..helpers import get_cache_dir, get_keys_dir, get_security_dir, get_config_dir
 from ..helpers import is_slow_msgpack
 from ..helpers import yes, TRUISH, FALSISH, DEFAULTISH
 from ..helpers import StableDict, int_to_bigint, bigint_to_int, bin_to_hex
@@ -447,6 +447,17 @@ class TestParseTimestamp(BaseTestCase):
         self.assert_equal(parse_timestamp('2015-04-19T20:25:00'), datetime(2015, 4, 19, 20, 25, 0, 0, timezone.utc))
 
 
+def test_get_config_dir(monkeypatch):
+    """test that get_config_dir respects environment"""
+    monkeypatch.delenv('BORG_CONFIG_DIR', raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delenv('XDG_CONFIG_HOME', raising=False)
+    assert get_config_dir() == os.path.join(os.path.expanduser('~'), '.config', 'borg')
+    monkeypatch.setenv('XDG_CONFIG_HOME', '/var/tmp/.config')
+    assert get_config_dir() == os.path.join('/var/tmp/.config', 'borg')
+    monkeypatch.setenv('BORG_CONFIG_DIR', '/var/tmp')
+    assert get_config_dir() == '/var/tmp'
+
+
 def test_get_cache_dir(monkeypatch):
     """test that get_cache_dir respects environment"""
     monkeypatch.delenv('BORG_CACHE_DIR', raising=False)