diff --git a/tcltk/Makefile b/tcltk/Makefile
index 97f214ad2..283f8293c 100644
--- a/tcltk/Makefile
+++ b/tcltk/Makefile
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ TCL_FILES = \
 	readspice.tcl \
 	magic.tcl
 
+TCL_DIR_REL_OR_ABS = $(shell ${MAGICDIR}/tcltk/relpath.sh "$(DESTDIR)${INSTALL_BINDIR}" ${TCLDIR})
+ifeq ($(TCL_DIR_REL_OR_ABS),)
+TCL_DIR_REL_OR_ABS = ${TCLDIR}
+endif
+
 BIN_FILES = \
 	$(DESTDIR)${INSTALL_BINDIR}/magic.sh \
 	$(DESTDIR)${INSTALL_BINDIR}/ext2spice.sh \
@@ -65,16 +70,16 @@ magic.tcl: magic.tcl.in ${MAGICDIR}/defs.mak ${MAGICDIR}/VERSION
 	    magic.tcl.in > magic.tcl
 
 magic.sh: magic.sh.in ${MAGICDIR}/defs.mak
-	sed -e /TCL_DIR/s%TCL_DIR%${TCLDIR}%g \
+	sed -e /TCL_DIR_REL_OR_ABS/s%TCL_DIR_REL_OR_ABS%${TCL_DIR_REL_OR_ABS}%g \
 	    -e /TCLLIB_DIR/s%TCLLIB_DIR%${TCL_LIB_DIR}%g \
 	    -e /WISH_EXE/s%WISH_EXE%${WISH_EXE}%g magic.sh.in > magic.sh
 
 ext2spice.sh: ext2spice.sh.in ${MAGICDIR}/defs.mak
-	sed -e /TCL_DIR/s%TCL_DIR%${TCLDIR}%g \
+	sed -e /TCL_DIR_REL_OR_ABS/s%TCL_DIR_REL_OR_ABS%${TCL_DIR_REL_OR_ABS}%g \
 	    ext2spice.sh.in > ext2spice.sh
 
 ext2sim.sh: ext2sim.sh.in ${MAGICDIR}/defs.mak
-	sed -e /TCL_DIR/s%TCL_DIR%${TCLDIR}%g \
+	sed -e /TCL_DIR_REL_OR_ABS/s%TCL_DIR_REL_OR_ABS%${TCL_DIR_REL_OR_ABS}%g \
 	    ext2sim.sh.in > ext2sim.sh
 
 $(DESTDIR)${INSTALL_TCLDIR}/%: %
diff --git a/tcltk/ext2sim.sh.in b/tcltk/ext2sim.sh.in
index d07400983..61d69cf81 100755
--- a/tcltk/ext2sim.sh.in
+++ b/tcltk/ext2sim.sh.in
@@ -14,12 +14,14 @@ for i in $@; do
       *) esargs="$esargs $i" ;;
    esac
 done
-TCL_MAG_DIR=${CAD_ROOT}/magic/tcl
-if [ "${TCL_MAG_DIR}" = "/magic/tcl" ]; then
-   TCL_MAG_DIR=TCL_DIR
+TCL_REL_OR_ABS=TCL_DIR_REL_OR_ABS
+if [ "${TCL_REL_OR_ABS:0:1}" = "/" ]; then
+   TCL_DIR=$TCL_REL_OR_ABS
+else
+   TCL_DIR=$(cd $(dirname ${BASH_SOURCE[0]})/$TCL_REL_OR_ABS; pwd -P)
 fi
 #
-eval ${TCL_MAG_DIR}/magicdnull -dnull -noconsole -nowrapper $mgargs <<EOF
+eval ${TCL_DIR}/magicdnull -dnull -noconsole -nowrapper $mgargs <<EOF
 drc off
 box 0 0 0 0
 ext2sim $esargs
diff --git a/tcltk/ext2spice.sh.in b/tcltk/ext2spice.sh.in
index 552a1a0ae..b87045b07 100755
--- a/tcltk/ext2spice.sh.in
+++ b/tcltk/ext2spice.sh.in
@@ -14,12 +14,14 @@ for i in $@; do
       *) esargs="$esargs $i" ;;
    esac
 done
-TCL_MAG_DIR=${CAD_ROOT}/magic/tcl
-if [ "${TCL_MAG_DIR}" = "/magic/tcl" ]; then
-   TCL_MAG_DIR=TCL_DIR
+TCL_REL_OR_ABS=TCL_DIR_REL_OR_ABS
+if [ "${TCL_REL_OR_ABS:0:1}" = "/" ]; then
+   TCL_DIR=$TCL_REL_OR_ABS
+else
+   TCL_DIR=$(cd $(dirname ${BASH_SOURCE[0]})/$TCL_REL_OR_ABS; pwd -P)
 fi
 #
-eval ${TCL_MAG_DIR}/magicdnull -dnull -noconsole -nowrapper $mgargs <<EOF
+eval ${TCL_DIR}/magicdnull -dnull -noconsole -nowrapper $mgargs <<EOF
 drc off
 box 0 0 0 0
 ext2spice $esargs
diff --git a/tcltk/magic.sh.in b/tcltk/magic.sh.in
index 5993a4c2a..af3228d57 100755
--- a/tcltk/magic.sh.in
+++ b/tcltk/magic.sh.in
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@
 # Parse for the argument "-c[onsole]".  If it exists, run magic
 # with the TkCon console.  Strip this argument from the argument list.
 
-TCL_MAG_DIR=${CAD_ROOT}/magic/tcl
-if [ "${TCL_MAG_DIR}" = "/magic/tcl" ]; then
-   TCL_MAG_DIR=TCL_DIR
+TCL_REL_OR_ABS=TCL_DIR_REL_OR_ABS
+if [ "${TCL_REL_OR_ABS:0:1}" = "/" ]; then
+   TCL_DIR=$TCL_REL_OR_ABS
+else
+   TCL_DIR=$(cd $(dirname $(readlink -f ${BASH_SOURCE[0]}))/$TCL_REL_OR_ABS; pwd -P)
 fi
 TKCON=true
 DNULL=
@@ -41,12 +43,12 @@ done
 if [ $TKCON ]; then
 
    if [ $DNULL ]; then
-      exec $TCL_MAG_DIR/tkcon.tcl -eval "source $TCL_MAG_DIR/console.tcl" \
-	   -slave "set argc $#; set argv [list $*]; source $TCL_MAG_DIR/magic.tcl"
+      exec $TCL_DIR/tkcon.tcl -eval "source $TCL_DIR/console.tcl" \
+	   -slave "set argc $#; set argv [list $*]; source $TCL_DIR/magic.tcl"
    else
-      exec $TCL_MAG_DIR/tkcon.tcl -eval "source $TCL_MAG_DIR/console.tcl" \
+      exec $TCL_DIR/tkcon.tcl -eval "source $TCL_DIR/console.tcl" \
 	   -slave "package require Tk; set argc $#; set argv [list $arglist]; \
-	   source $TCL_MAG_DIR/magic.tcl"
+	   source $TCL_DIR/magic.tcl"
    fi
 
 else
@@ -61,8 +63,8 @@ else
 # only, efficient for running in batch mode).
 #
    if [ $DNULL ]; then
-      exec $TCL_MAG_DIR/magicdnull -nowrapper "$@"
+      exec $TCL_DIR/magicdnull -nowrapper "$@"
    else
-      exec $TCL_MAG_DIR/magicexec -- "$@"
+      exec $TCL_DIR/magicexec -- "$@"
    fi
 fi
diff --git a/tcltk/magic.tcl.in b/tcltk/magic.tcl.in
index a7f0dd8ec..59ee06d79 100755
--- a/tcltk/magic.tcl.in
+++ b/tcltk/magic.tcl.in
@@ -9,7 +9,10 @@ global Opts
 # the environment variable HOME to its original value.
 
 variable MAGIC_TCL_DIR [file dirname [file normalize [info script]]]
-variable CAD_ROOT_DEFAULT [file normalize [file join $MAGIC_TCL_DIR ../..]]
+
+if {![info exists CAD_ROOT]} {
+   variable CAD_ROOT [file normalize [file join $MAGIC_TCL_DIR ../..]]
+}
 
 if {${tcl_version} >= 8.6} {
    load -lazy [file join $MAGIC_TCL_DIR tclmagic[info sharedlibextension]]
diff --git a/tcltk/magicdnull.c b/tcltk/magicdnull.c
index b75531b2f..263f19b69 100644
--- a/tcltk/magicdnull.c
+++ b/tcltk/magicdnull.c
@@ -28,8 +28,17 @@ magic_AppInit(interp)
 
     /* This is where we replace the home ".tclshrc" file with	*/
     /* magic's startup script.					*/
-
-    Tcl_SetVar(interp, "tcl_rcFileName", TCL_DIR "/magic.tcl", TCL_GLOBAL_ONLY);
+    /* Try to find magic.tcl relative to the current executable.
+       If that fails, try to load it from the path where it was located
+       at build time.
+     */
+    const char *magic_tcl_path = NULL;
+    if (Tcl_ExprString(interp, "[file join [file dirname [info nameofexecutable]] magic.tcl]") == TCL_OK) {
+        magic_tcl_path = Tcl_GetStringResult(interp);
+    } else {
+        magic_tcl_path = TCL_DIR "/magic.tcl";
+    }
+    Tcl_SetVar(interp, "tcl_rcFileName", magic_tcl_path, TCL_GLOBAL_ONLY);
 
     /* Additional variable can be used to tell if magic is in batch mode */
     Tcl_SetVar(interp, "batch_mode", "true", TCL_GLOBAL_ONLY);
diff --git a/tcltk/magicexec.c b/tcltk/magicexec.c
index 73abbd3ac..621dbd2f6 100644
--- a/tcltk/magicexec.c
+++ b/tcltk/magicexec.c
@@ -59,7 +59,17 @@ magic_AppInit(interp)
     /* This is where we replace the home ".wishrc" file with	*/
     /* magic's startup script.					*/
 
-    Tcl_SetVar(interp, "tcl_rcFileName", TCL_DIR "/magic.tcl", TCL_GLOBAL_ONLY);
+    /* Try to find magic.tcl relative to the current executable.
+       If that fails, try to load it from the path where it was located
+       at build time.
+     */
+    const char *magic_tcl_path = NULL;
+    if (Tcl_ExprString(interp, "[file join [file dirname [info nameofexecutable]] magic.tcl]") == TCL_OK) {
+        magic_tcl_path = Tcl_GetStringResult(interp);
+    } else {
+        magic_tcl_path = TCL_DIR "/magic.tcl";
+    }
+    Tcl_SetVar(interp, "tcl_rcFileName", magic_tcl_path, TCL_GLOBAL_ONLY);
     return TCL_OK;
 }
 
diff --git a/tcltk/relpath.sh b/tcltk/relpath.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..abeac9591
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tcltk/relpath.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# From https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2564634/convert-absolute-path-into-relative-path-given-a-current-directory-using-bash
+# both $1 and $2 are absolute paths beginning with /
+# returns relative path to $2/$target from $1/$source
+source=$1
+target=$2
+
+common_part=$source # for now
+result="" # for now
+
+while [[ "${target#$common_part}" == "${target}" ]]; do
+    # no match, means that candidate common part is not correct
+    # go up one level (reduce common part)
+    common_part="$(dirname $common_part)"
+    # and record that we went back, with correct / handling
+    if [[ -z $result ]]; then
+        result=".."
+    else
+        result="../$result"
+    fi
+done
+
+if [[ $common_part == "/" ]]; then
+    # special case for root (no common path)
+    result="$result/"
+fi
+
+# since we now have identified the common part,
+# compute the non-common part
+forward_part="${target#$common_part}"
+
+# and now stick all parts together
+if [[ -n $result ]] && [[ -n $forward_part ]]; then
+    result="$result$forward_part"
+elif [[ -n $forward_part ]]; then
+    # extra slash removal
+    result="${forward_part:1}"
+fi
+
+echo $result