diff --git a/dev/ci.sh b/dev/ci.sh
index f61e93b349..a39c816d21 100755
--- a/dev/ci.sh
+++ b/dev/ci.sh
@@ -99,11 +99,9 @@ testmockpkg () {
     cd "$mockpkg_dir"
     echo_and_run ./configure "$gaproot"
     echo_and_run $MAKE V=1
-    # trick to make it easy to load the package in GAP
-    rm -f pkg && ln -sf . pkg
     # try to load the kernel extension
     cd "$gaproot"
-    echo_and_run $gap -A -l "$mockpkg_dir;" "$mockpkg_dir/tst/testall.g"
+    echo_and_run $gap -A --packagedirs "$mockpkg_dir" "$mockpkg_dir/tst/testall.g"
 }
 
 
diff --git a/doc/ref/files.xml b/doc/ref/files.xml
index 4da8aca5af..75cb5f68b3 100644
--- a/doc/ref/files.xml
+++ b/doc/ref/files.xml
@@ -81,9 +81,9 @@ directories. For example when ⪆ wants to read its library file
 <C>GAPInfo.RootPaths</C> until it finds the path of an existing file.
 The first file found this way is read.
 <P/>
-Furthermore, &GAP; looks for available packages by examining the
-subdirectories <F>pkg/</F> in each of the directories in
-<C>GAPInfo.RootPaths</C>.
+Any subdirectories named <F>pkg/</F> in one of the directories in <C>GAPInfo.RootPaths</C>
+are added to <C>GAPInfo.PackageDirectories</C> (see <Ref Sect="GAP Package Directories"/>),
+which controls where &GAP; looks for available packages.
 <P/>
 The root directories are specified via one or several of the
 <C>-l paths</C> command line options, see <Ref Sect="Command Line Options"/>.
@@ -95,11 +95,36 @@ This directory can be used to tell &GAP; about personal preferences,
 to always load some additional code, to install additional packages,
 or to overwrite some &GAP; files. See <Ref Sect="sect:gap.ini"/>
 for more information how to do this.
+After &GAP; has been started, one can add additional root directories
+via the function <Ref Func="ExtendRootDirectories"/>.
 <P/>
 
 </Section>
 
 
+<!-- %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% -->
+<Section Label="GAP Package Directories">
+<Heading>GAP Package Directories</Heading>
+<Index Key="GAPInfo.PackageDirectories"><C>GAPInfo.PackageDirectories</C></Index>
+
+When &GAP; is started it determines a list of directories potentially
+containing packages. We refer to these as the <E>&GAP; package directories</E>.
+In a running &GAP; session this list can be found in <C>GAPInfo.PackageDirectories</C>.
+<P/>
+Every subdirectory <F>pkg</F> in a &GAP; root directory is automatically
+added to this list. Further package directories can be specified via one or several
+<C>--packagedirs paths</C> command line options, see <Ref Sect="Command Line Options"/>,
+or after &GAP; has been started via the function <Ref Func="ExtendPackageDirectories"/>.
+The order of the directories in <C>GAPInfo.PackageDirectories</C> is as follows:
+first the package directories specified via the command line option <C>--packagedirs</C>,
+then the subdirectories <F>pkg</F> of the &GAP; root directories that were known at startup in the
+same order, and finally the directories added after &GAP; has been started.
+<P/>
+&GAP; looks for available packages by examining each of the directories in
+<C>GAPInfo.PackageDirectories</C>.
+</Section>
+
+
 <!-- %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% -->
 <Section Label="Directories">
 <Heading>Directories</Heading>
diff --git a/doc/ref/gappkg.xml b/doc/ref/gappkg.xml
index 03751f2757..1fa68f75d5 100644
--- a/doc/ref/gappkg.xml
+++ b/doc/ref/gappkg.xml
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ that is they will be loaded automatically when &GAP; starts
 
 <#Include Label="SetPackagePath">
 <#Include Label="ExtendRootDirectories">
+<#Include Label="ExtendPackageDirectories">
 <#Include Label="DisplayPackageLoadingLog">
 
 </Section>
diff --git a/doc/ref/run.xml b/doc/ref/run.xml
index 88101cfdae..c875482309 100644
--- a/doc/ref/run.xml
+++ b/doc/ref/run.xml
@@ -269,6 +269,27 @@ It is not possible  to use &GAP; without the  library files, so you must
 not  ignore this warning.  You  should leave &GAP;   and start it again,
 specifying the correct root path using the <C>-l</C> option.
 </Item>
+<Mark><Index Key="--packagedirs"><C>--packagedirs</C></Index>
+<C>--packagedirs </C><A>path_list</A></Mark>
+<Item>
+can be used to add paths to &GAP;'s list of package directories
+(see <Ref Sect="GAP Package Directories"/>).
+The list always contains all subdirectories <F>pkg</F> in a &GAP; root directory.
+<P/>
+<A>path_list</A> should be a list of directories separated by semicolons.
+No whitespace is permitted before or after a semicolon, and the first and
+last character of <A>path_list</A> may not be a semicolon.
+After &GAP; has completed its startup procedure and
+displays the prompt, the list of package directories can be seen in the
+variable <C>GAPInfo.PackageDirectories</C>,
+see <Ref Var="GAPInfo"/>.
+<P/>
+Usually this option is used inside a startup script to specify
+where additional &GAP; packages are located on the system.
+The <C>--packagedirs</C> option can also be used by individual users to tell &GAP;
+about additional &GAP; packages, without the need to set up a complete root
+directory structure.
+</Item>
 <Mark><Index Key="-M"><C>-M</C></Index>
 <C>-M</C></Mark>
 <Item>
diff --git a/lib/package.gd b/lib/package.gd
index 8136cc518d..cc1de684f0 100644
--- a/lib/package.gd
+++ b/lib/package.gd
@@ -859,7 +859,8 @@ DeclareGlobalFunction( "LoadPackage" );
 ##  <P/>
 ##  See <Ref Func="SetPackagePath"/> for a way to force the loading of a
 ##  prescribed package version.
-##  See also <Ref Func="ExtendRootDirectories"/> for a method of adding
+##  See also <Ref Func="ExtendRootDirectories"/> and
+##  <Ref Func="ExtendPackageDirectories"/> for methods of adding
 ##  directories containing packages <E>after</E> &GAP; has been started.
 ##  </Subsection>
 ##  <#/GAPDoc>
@@ -947,6 +948,29 @@ DeclareGlobalFunction( "SetPackagePath" );
 ##
 DeclareGlobalFunction( "ExtendRootDirectories" );
 
+
+#############################################################################
+##
+#F  ExtendPackageDirectories( <paths> )
+##
+##  <#GAPDoc Label="ExtendPackageDirectories">
+##  <ManSection>
+##  <Func Name="ExtendPackageDirectories" Arg='paths'/>
+##
+##  <Description>
+##  Let <A>paths</A> be a list of strings that denote paths to intended
+##  &GAP; package directories (see <Ref Sect="GAP Package Directories"/>).
+##  The function <Ref Func="ExtendPackageDirectories"/> adds these paths to
+##  the global list <C>GAPInfo.PackageDirectories</C> and calls the initialization of
+##  available &GAP; packages,
+##  such that later calls to <Ref Func="LoadPackage"/> will find the &GAP;
+##  packages that are contained in the directories given by <A>paths</A>.
+##  </Description>
+##  </ManSection>
+##  <#/GAPDoc>
+##
+DeclareGlobalFunction( "ExtendPackageDirectories" );
+
 #############################################################################
 ##
 #F  InstalledPackageVersion( <name> )
diff --git a/lib/package.gi b/lib/package.gi
index e7780524bf..0a0068a7d6 100644
--- a/lib/package.gi
+++ b/lib/package.gi
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ end );
 ##  In earlier versions, this function had an argument; now we ignore it.
 ##
 InstallGlobalFunction( InitializePackagesInfoRecords, function( arg )
-    local pkgdirs, pkgdir, ignore, name, files, record, r;
+    local pkgdirs, pkgdir, pkgdirstrs, ignore, name, file, files, record, r;
 
     if IsBound( GAPInfo.PackagesInfoInitialized ) and
        GAPInfo.PackagesInfoInitialized = true then
@@ -300,8 +300,28 @@ InstallGlobalFunction( InitializePackagesInfoRecords, function( arg )
 
     LogPackageLoadingMessage( PACKAGE_DEBUG,
         "entering InitializePackagesInfoRecords", "GAP" );
+
+    # the first time this is called, add the cmd line args to the list
+    if IsEmpty(GAPInfo.PackageDirectories) then
+        for pkgdirstrs in GAPInfo.CommandLineOptions.packagedirs do
+            pkgdirs:= List( SplitString( pkgdirstrs, ";" ), Directory );
+            for pkgdir in pkgdirs do
+                if not pkgdir in GAPInfo.PackageDirectories then
+                    Add( GAPInfo.PackageDirectories, pkgdir );
+                fi;
+            od;
+        od;
+    fi;
+    # add any new pkg directories to the list
     pkgdirs:= DirectoriesLibrary( "pkg" );
-    if pkgdirs = fail then
+    if pkgdirs <> fail then
+        pkgdirs:= Filtered( pkgdirs, dir -> not dir in GAPInfo.PackageDirectories );
+        if not IsEmpty(pkgdirs) then
+            Append( GAPInfo.PackageDirectories, pkgdirs );
+        fi;
+    fi;
+
+    if IsEmpty(GAPInfo.PackageDirectories) then
       LogPackageLoadingMessage( PACKAGE_DEBUG,
           "exit InitializePackagesInfoRecords (no pkg directories found)",
           "GAP" );
@@ -327,7 +347,7 @@ InstallGlobalFunction( InitializePackagesInfoRecords, function( arg )
     # Loop over the package directories,
     # remove the packages listed in `NOAUTO' files from GAP's suggested
     # packages, and unite the information for the directories.
-    for pkgdir in pkgdirs do
+    for pkgdir in GAPInfo.PackageDirectories do
 
       if IsBound( GAPInfo.ExcludeFromAutoload ) then
         UniteSet( GAPInfo.ExcludeFromAutoload,
@@ -335,15 +355,21 @@ InstallGlobalFunction( InitializePackagesInfoRecords, function( arg )
                         LowercaseString ) );
       fi;
 
-      # Loop over subdirectories of this package directory.
-      for name in Set( DirectoryContents( Filename( pkgdir, "" ) ) ) do
+      # pkgdir may be a package instead of a package directory
+      file:= Filename( [ pkgdir ], "PackageInfo.g" );
+      if file <> fail then
+        AddPackageInfos( [ [ file, "" ] ], pkgdir, ignore );
+      else
+        # Loop over subdirectories of this package directory.
+        for name in Set( DirectoryContents( pkgdir ) ) do
 
-          ## Get all package dirs
-          files := FindPackageInfosInSubdirectories( pkgdir, name );
+            ## Get all package dirs
+            files := FindPackageInfosInSubdirectories( pkgdir, name );
 
-          AddPackageInfos( files, pkgdir, ignore );
+            AddPackageInfos( files, pkgdir, ignore );
 
-      od;
+        od;
+      fi;
     od;
 
     # Sort the available info records by their version numbers.
@@ -1958,6 +1984,35 @@ InstallGlobalFunction( ExtendRootDirectories, function( rootpaths )
     end );
 
 
+#############################################################################
+##
+#F  ExtendPackageDirectories( <paths_or_dirs> )
+##
+InstallGlobalFunction( ExtendPackageDirectories, function( paths_or_dirs )
+    local p, changed;
+    changed:= false;
+    for p in paths_or_dirs do
+      if IsString( p ) then
+        p:= Directory( p );
+      elif not IsDirectory( p ) then
+        Error("input must be a list of path strings or directory objects");
+      fi;
+      if not p in GAPInfo.PackageDirectories then
+        Add( GAPInfo.PackageDirectories, p );
+        changed:= true;
+      fi;
+    od;
+    if changed then
+      # Reread the package information.
+      if IsBound( GAPInfo.PackagesInfoInitialized ) and
+         GAPInfo.PackagesInfoInitialized = true then
+        GAPInfo.PackagesInfoInitialized:= false;
+        InitializePackagesInfoRecords();
+      fi;
+    fi;
+    end );
+
+
 #############################################################################
 ##
 #F  InstalledPackageVersion( <name> )
diff --git a/lib/system.g b/lib/system.g
index d79aca2008..d3c5e5b110 100644
--- a/lib/system.g
+++ b/lib/system.g
@@ -95,6 +95,9 @@ BIND_GLOBAL( "GAPInfo", rec(
                      "directories to the end/start of existing list",
                      "of root paths" ] ),
       rec( short:= "r", default := false, help := ["disable/enable user GAP root dir", "GAPInfo.UserGapRoot"] ),
+      rec( long := "packagedirs", default := [], arg := "<paths>",
+           help := [ "add additional GAP directory paths",
+                     "Directories are separated using ';'." ] ),
       ,
       rec( section:= ["Loading:"] ),
       rec( short:= "A", default := false, help := ["disable/enable autoloading of suggested", "GAP packages"] ),
@@ -302,6 +305,7 @@ CallAndInstallPostRestore( function()
 
     # paths
     GAPInfo.RootPaths:= GAPInfo.KernelInfo.GAP_ROOT_PATHS;
+    GAPInfo.PackageDirectories := [];
     if  IsBound(GAPInfo.SystemEnvironment.HOME) then
       GAPInfo.UserHome := GAPInfo.SystemEnvironment.HOME;
     else
diff --git a/tst/testinstall/package.tst b/tst/testinstall/package.tst
index cd364a81b4..10e515fc9c 100644
--- a/tst/testinstall/package.tst
+++ b/tst/testinstall/package.tst
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#@local entry,equ,pair,sml,oldTermEncoding,pkginfo,info,tmp_dir,mockpkgpath,old_warning_level,p,n,filename,IsDateFormatValid,loadinfo,eval_loadinfo
+#@local entry,equ,pair,sml,oldTermEncoding,pkginfo,info,mockpkgpath,old_warning_level,p,n,filename,IsDateFormatValid,loadinfo,eval_loadinfo
 gap> START_TEST("package.tst");
 
 # CompareVersionNumbers( <supplied>, <required>[, \"equal\"] )
@@ -380,17 +380,9 @@ false
 gap> IsPackageLoaded("mockpkg", ">=2.0");
 false
 
-# load mockpkg via a symlink in a directory called `pkg`
-# so we can test ExtendRootDirectories below
-# first create a temporary directory for all of this
-gap> tmp_dir := DirectoryTemporary( );;
-
-# create a subdirectory `<tmp_dir>/pkg`
-gap> Exec( Concatenation( "mkdir -p ", Filename( tmp_dir, "/pkg" ) ) );
-
-# make `<tmp_dir>/pkg/mockpkg` a symlink to `tst/mockpkg`
-gap> Exec( Concatenation( "ln -sfn ", Filename( DirectoriesLibrary("tst/mockpkg"), "" )," ", Filename( tmp_dir, "pkg/mockpkg" ) ) );
-gap> mockpkgpath := Directory( Filename( tmp_dir, "pkg/mockpkg" ) );;
+# load mockpkg first via SetPackagePath and later via
+# ExtendPackageDirectories
+gap> mockpkgpath := DirectoriesLibrary("tst/mockpkg")[1];;
 gap> ValidatePackageInfo(Filename(mockpkgpath, "PackageInfo.g"));
 true
 
@@ -635,12 +627,8 @@ false
 gap> IsPackageLoaded("mockpkg", ">=2.0");
 false
 
-# now add the temporary directory created above as a new root directory
-gap> filename:= ShallowCopy( Filename( tmp_dir, "" ) );;
-gap> while EndsWith( filename, "/" ) do Remove( filename ); od;
-gap> ExtendRootDirectories( [ filename ] );
-gap> ForAll( GAPInfo.RootPaths, x -> EndsWith( x, "/" ) );
-true
+# now add the directory with mockpkgpath as a new package directory
+gap> ExtendPackageDirectories( [ mockpkgpath ] );
 
 # make sure that the newly discovered installation path matches
 # the path from which mockpkg was loaded above
@@ -649,8 +637,7 @@ gap> Last( GAPInfo.PackagesInfo.mockpkg ).InstallationPath =
 true
 
 #
-gap> SetPackagePath( "mockpkg", Filename( tmp_dir, "pkg/mockpkg" ) );
-gap> SetPackagePath( "mockpkg", Filename( tmp_dir, "pkg/mockpkg/" ) );
+gap> SetPackagePath( "mockpkg", Filename( mockpkgpath, "" ) );
 gap> SetPackagePath( "mockpkg", "/some/other/directory" );
 Error, another version of package mockpkg is already loaded