diff --git a/controller/seafile-controller.c b/controller/seafile-controller.c
index 2b0462c..3dde027 100644
--- a/controller/seafile-controller.c
+++ b/controller/seafile-controller.c
@@ -201,6 +201,7 @@ start_seaf_server ()
         "-d", ctl->seafile_dir,
         "-l", logfile,
         "-P", ctl->pidfile[PID_SERVER],
+        "-p", ctl->rpc_pipe_path,
         NULL};
 
     int pid = spawn_process (argv);
@@ -314,6 +315,7 @@ setup_env ()
     g_setenv ("CCNET_CONF_DIR", ctl->config_dir, TRUE);
     g_setenv ("SEAFILE_CONF_DIR", ctl->seafile_dir, TRUE);
     g_setenv ("SEAFILE_CENTRAL_CONF_DIR", ctl->central_config_dir, TRUE);
+    g_setenv ("SEAFILE_RPC_PIPE_PATH", ctl->rpc_pipe_path, TRUE);
 
     char *seahub_dir = g_build_filename (installpath, "seahub", NULL);
     char *seafdav_conf = g_build_filename (ctl->central_config_dir, "seafdav.conf", NULL);
@@ -524,6 +526,7 @@ seaf_controller_init (SeafileController *ctl,
     ctl->central_config_dir = central_config_dir;
     ctl->config_dir = config_dir;
     ctl->seafile_dir = seafile_dir;
+    ctl->rpc_pipe_path = g_build_filename (installpath, "runtime", NULL);
     ctl->logdir = logdir;
 
     if (read_seafdav_config() < 0) {
diff --git a/controller/seafile-controller.h b/controller/seafile-controller.h
index e9e9f22..d4bbe35 100644
--- a/controller/seafile-controller.h
+++ b/controller/seafile-controller.h
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ struct _SeafileController {
     char *central_config_dir;
     char *config_dir;
     char *seafile_dir;
+    char *rpc_pipe_path;
     char *logdir;
 
     CcnetClient         *client;
diff --git a/python/seaserv/service.py b/python/seaserv/service.py
index 21701e4..9235a2a 100644
--- a/python/seaserv/service.py
+++ b/python/seaserv/service.py
@@ -31,11 +31,13 @@ def _load_path_from_env(key, check=True):
 CCNET_CONF_PATH = _load_path_from_env('CCNET_CONF_DIR')
 SEAFILE_CONF_DIR = _load_path_from_env('SEAFILE_CONF_DIR')
 SEAFILE_CENTRAL_CONF_DIR = _load_path_from_env('SEAFILE_CENTRAL_CONF_DIR', check=False)
+SEAFILE_RPC_PIPE_PATH = _load_path_from_env ("SEAFILE_RPC_PIPE_PATH", check=False)
 
 ccnet_pipe_path = os.path.join (CCNET_CONF_PATH, 'ccnet-rpc.sock')
 ccnet_threaded_rpc = ccnet.CcnetThreadedRpcClient(ccnet_pipe_path)
 
-seafile_pipe_path = os.path.join(SEAFILE_CONF_DIR, 'seafile.sock')
+seafile_pipe_path = os.path.join(SEAFILE_RPC_PIPE_PATH if SEAFILE_RPC_PIPE_PATH else SEAFILE_CONF_DIR,
+                                 'seafile.sock')
 seafserv_threaded_rpc = seafile.ServerThreadedRpcClient(seafile_pipe_path)
 
 # load ccnet server addr and port from ccnet.conf.
diff --git a/scripts/seahub.sh b/scripts/seahub.sh
index a18d957..1dafd85 100755
--- a/scripts/seahub.sh
+++ b/scripts/seahub.sh
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ TOPDIR=$(dirname "${INSTALLPATH}")
 default_ccnet_conf_dir=${TOPDIR}/ccnet
 default_seafile_data_dir=${TOPDIR}/seafile-data
 central_config_dir=${TOPDIR}/conf
+seafile_rpc_pipe_path=${INSTALLPATH}/runtime
 
 manage_py=${INSTALLPATH}/seahub/manage.py
 gunicorn_conf=${TOPDIR}/conf/gunicorn.conf.py
@@ -212,6 +213,7 @@ function prepare_env() {
     export CCNET_CONF_DIR=${default_ccnet_conf_dir}
     export SEAFILE_CONF_DIR=${default_seafile_data_dir}
     export SEAFILE_CENTRAL_CONF_DIR=${central_config_dir}
+    export SEAFILE_RPC_PIPE_PATH=${seafile_rpc_pipe_path}
     export PYTHONPATH=${INSTALLPATH}/seafile/lib/python3.6/site-packages:${INSTALLPATH}/seafile/lib64/python3.6/site-packages:${INSTALLPATH}/seahub:${INSTALLPATH}/seahub/thirdpart:$PYTHONPATH
 
 
diff --git a/server/seaf-server.c b/server/seaf-server.c
index 93cb9ec..6f8a1f4 100644
--- a/server/seaf-server.c
+++ b/server/seaf-server.c
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ SeafileSession *seaf;
 
 char *pidfile = NULL;
 
-static const char *short_options = "hvc:d:l:fP:D:F:";
+static const char *short_options = "hvc:d:l:fP:D:F:p:";
 static struct option long_options[] = {
     { "help", no_argument, NULL, 'h', },
     { "version", no_argument, NULL, 'v', },
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ static struct option long_options[] = {
     { "debug", required_argument, NULL, 'D' },
     { "foreground", no_argument, NULL, 'f' },
     { "pidfile", required_argument, NULL, 'P' },
+    { "rpc-pipe-path", required_argument, NULL, 'p' },
     { NULL, 0, NULL, 0, },
 };
 
@@ -55,7 +56,8 @@ static void usage ()
 
 #define NAMED_PIPE_SERVER_THREAD_POOL_SIZE 50
 
-static void start_rpc_service (const char *seafile_dir)
+static void start_rpc_service (const char *seafile_dir,
+                               const char *rpc_pipe_path)
 {
     SearpcNamedPipeServer *rpc_server = NULL;
     char *pipe_path = NULL;
@@ -765,7 +767,11 @@ static void start_rpc_service (const char *seafile_dir)
                                      "set_server_config_boolean",
                                      searpc_signature_int__string_string_int());
 
-    pipe_path = g_build_path ("/", seafile_dir, SEAFILE_RPC_PIPE_NAME, NULL);
+    if (rpc_pipe_path) {
+        pipe_path = g_build_path ("/", rpc_pipe_path, SEAFILE_RPC_PIPE_NAME, NULL);
+    } else {
+        pipe_path = g_build_path ("/", seafile_dir, SEAFILE_RPC_PIPE_NAME, NULL);
+    }
     rpc_server = searpc_create_named_pipe_server_with_threadpool (pipe_path, NAMED_PIPE_SERVER_THREAD_POOL_SIZE);
 
     g_free(pipe_path);
@@ -877,6 +883,7 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
     char *seafile_dir = NULL;
     char *central_config_dir = NULL;
     char *logfile = NULL;
+    char *rpc_pipe_path = NULL;
     const char *debug_str = NULL;
     int daemon_mode = 1;
 
@@ -915,6 +922,9 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
         case 'P':
             pidfile = optarg;
             break;
+        case 'p':
+            rpc_pipe_path = g_strdup (optarg);
+            break;
         default:
             usage ();
             exit (1);
@@ -973,7 +983,7 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 
     event_init ();
 
-    start_rpc_service (seafile_dir);
+    start_rpc_service (seafile_dir, rpc_pipe_path);
 
     seaf = seafile_session_new (central_config_dir, seafile_dir, ccnet_dir);
     if (!seaf) {
@@ -988,6 +998,7 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 
     g_free (seafile_dir);
     g_free (logfile);
+    g_free (rpc_pipe_path);
 
     set_signal_handlers (seaf);