diff -up meshlab-2016.12/src/common/pluginmanager.cpp.plugin-path meshlab-2016.12/src/common/pluginmanager.cpp
--- meshlab-2016.12/src/common/pluginmanager.cpp.plugin-path	2017-07-19 14:52:31.874448037 -0400
+++ meshlab-2016.12/src/common/pluginmanager.cpp	2017-07-19 14:52:49.290082785 -0400
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ QString PluginManager::getBaseDirPath()
 
 QString PluginManager::getDefaultPluginDirPath()
 {
-  QDir pluginsDir(getBaseDirPath());
+  QDir pluginsDir(PLUGIN_DIR);
   if(!pluginsDir.exists("plugins"))
     //QMessageBox::warning(0,"Meshlab Initialization","Serious error. Unable to find the plugins directory.");
     qDebug("Meshlab Initialization: Serious error. Unable to find the plugins directory.");