diff --git a/src/mu-util.c b/src/mu-util.c
index ef65753b..2642c2ba 100644
--- a/src/mu-util.c
+++ b/src/mu-util.c
@@ -52,10 +52,9 @@ mu_util_dir_expand (const char *path)
 	return dir;
 }
 
-
-
 gboolean
-mu_util_check_dir (const gchar* path, gboolean readable, gboolean writeable)
+mu_util_check_dir (const gchar* path, gboolean readable,
+		   gboolean writeable)
 {
 	mode_t mode;
 	struct stat statbuf;
@@ -66,34 +65,38 @@ mu_util_check_dir (const gchar* path, gboolean readable, gboolean writeable)
 	mode = F_OK | (readable ? R_OK : 0) | (writeable ? W_OK : 0);
 
 	if (access (path, mode) != 0) {
-		MU_WRITE_LOG ("Cannot access %s: %s", path, strerror (errno));
+		MU_WRITE_LOG ("Cannot access %s: %s", path,
+			      strerror (errno));
 		return FALSE;
 	}
 
 	if (stat (path, &statbuf) != 0) {
-		MU_WRITE_LOG ("Cannot stat %s: %s", path, strerror (errno));
+		MU_WRITE_LOG ("Cannot stat %s: %s", path,
+			      strerror (errno));
 		return FALSE;
 	}
 	
-	return S_ISDIR(statbuf.st_mode);
+	return S_ISDIR(statbuf.st_mode) ? TRUE: FALSE;
 }
 
 
 gchar*
 mu_util_guess_maildir (void)
 {
-	char *dir;
-
+	const gchar *mdir1;
+	gchar *mdir2;
+	
 	/* first, try MAILDIR */
-	dir = getenv ("MAILDIR");
-	if (mu_util_check_dir (dir, TRUE, FALSE))
-		return g_strdup (dir);
+	mdir1 = g_getenv ("MAILDIR");
 
+	if (mdir1 && mu_util_check_dir (mdir1, TRUE, FALSE))
+		return g_strdup (mdir1);
+	
 	/* then, try ~/Maildir */
-	dir = mu_util_dir_expand ("~/Maildir");
-	if (mu_util_check_dir (dir, TRUE, FALSE))
-		return dir;
-
+	mdir2 = mu_util_dir_expand ("~/Maildir");
+	if (mu_util_check_dir (mdir2, TRUE, FALSE))
+		return mdir2;
+	
 	/* nope; nothing found */
 	return NULL;
 }
diff --git a/src/mu-util.h b/src/mu-util.h
index ad222207..03516410 100644
--- a/src/mu-util.h
+++ b/src/mu-util.h
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@ G_BEGIN_DECLS
 char*       mu_util_dir_expand (const char* path);
 
 /** 
- * guess the maildir; first try MAILDIR, then try ~/Maildir
- * if both fail, return NULL
+ * guess the maildir; first try $MAILDIR; if it is unset or
+ * non-existant, try ~/Maildir if both fail, return NULL
  * 
  * @return full path of the guessed Maildir, or NULL; must be freed (gfree)
  */
diff --git a/src/tests/test-util b/src/tests/test-util
index 3d17a81d..4140bf7e 100755
Binary files a/src/tests/test-util and b/src/tests/test-util differ
diff --git a/src/tests/test-util.c b/src/tests/test-util.c
index 2f5ed7a4..adabb289 100644
--- a/src/tests/test-util.c
+++ b/src/tests/test-util.c
@@ -23,24 +23,88 @@
 
 #include <glib.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 
 #include "src/mu-util.h"
 
 static void
-test_mu_util_dir_expand (void)
+test_mu_util_dir_expand_01 (void)
 {
 	gchar *got, *expected;
 	
 	got = mu_util_dir_expand ("~/Desktop");
 	expected = g_strdup_printf ("%s%cDesktop",
 				    getenv("HOME"), G_DIR_SEPARATOR);
-
+	
 	g_assert_cmpstr (got,==,expected);
+	
+	g_free (got);
+	g_free (expected);
+	
+}
+
+static void
+test_mu_util_dir_expand_02 (void)
+{
+	gchar *got, *expected, *tmp;
+	
+	tmp = g_strdup_printf ("~%s/Desktop", getenv("LOGNAME"));
+	got = mu_util_dir_expand (tmp);
+	expected = g_strdup_printf ("%s%cDesktop",
+				    getenv("HOME"), G_DIR_SEPARATOR);
+	
+	g_assert_cmpstr (got,==,expected);
+
+	g_free (tmp);
 	g_free (got);
 	g_free (expected);
 }
 
 
+static void
+test_mu_util_guess_maildir_01 (void)
+{
+	char *got;
+	const char *expected;
+
+	/* skip the test if there's no /tmp */
+	if (access ("/tmp", F_OK))
+		return;
+	
+	g_setenv ("MAILDIR", "/tmp", TRUE);
+
+	got = mu_util_guess_maildir ();
+	expected = "/tmp";
+
+	g_assert_cmpstr (got,==,expected);
+	g_free (got);
+}
+
+
+static void
+test_mu_util_guess_maildir_02 (void)
+{
+	char *got, *mdir;
+	
+	g_unsetenv ("MAILDIR");
+
+ 	mdir = g_strdup_printf ("%s%cMaildir",
+				getenv("HOME"), G_DIR_SEPARATOR);
+	got = mu_util_guess_maildir ();
+
+	if (access (mdir, F_OK) == 0)
+		g_assert_cmpstr (got, ==, mdir);
+	else
+		g_assert_cmpstr (got, == , NULL);
+	
+	g_free (got);
+	g_free (mdir);
+}
+
+
+
+
+
 static void
 shutup (void) {}
 
@@ -49,12 +113,22 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 {
 	g_test_init (&argc, &argv, NULL);
 
+	/* mu_util_dir_expand */
 	g_test_add_func ("/mu-util/mu-util-dir-expand-01",
-			 test_mu_util_dir_expand);
+			 test_mu_util_dir_expand_01);
+	g_test_add_func ("/mu-util/mu-util-dir-expand-02",
+			 test_mu_util_dir_expand_02);
 
+	/* mu_util_guess_maildir */
+	g_test_add_func ("/mu-util/mu-util-guess-maildir-01",
+			 test_mu_util_guess_maildir_01);
+	g_test_add_func ("/mu-util/mu-util-guess-maildir-02",
+			 test_mu_util_guess_maildir_02);
+	
 	g_log_set_handler (NULL,
-			   G_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG|G_LOG_LEVEL_MESSAGE|G_LOG_LEVEL_INFO,
-			   (GLogFunc)shutup, NULL);
+			   G_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG|
+			   G_LOG_LEVEL_MESSAGE|
+			   G_LOG_LEVEL_INFO, (GLogFunc)shutup, NULL);
 
 	return g_test_run ();
 }