diff --git a/file_path_special.c b/file_path_special.c
index e51d8a95ae9..05b3bbda62c 100644
--- a/file_path_special.c
+++ b/file_path_special.c
@@ -102,30 +102,44 @@ bool fill_pathname_application_data(char *s, size_t len)
 #endif
 
 #elif defined(OSX)
-#if HAVE_STEAM
-   CFStringRef parent_path;
-   CFURLRef bundle_url, parent_url;
    CFBundleRef bundle = CFBundleGetMainBundle();
+   bool portable = false;
    if (!bundle)
       return false;
-   bundle_url  = CFBundleCopyBundleURL(bundle);
-   parent_url  = CFURLCreateCopyDeletingLastPathComponent(NULL, bundle_url);
-   parent_path = CFURLCopyFileSystemPath(parent_url, kCFURLPOSIXPathStyle);
-   CFStringGetCString(parent_path, s, len, kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
-   CFRelease(parent_path);
-   CFRelease(parent_url);
-   CFRelease(bundle_url);
-   return true;
+#if HAVE_STEAM
+   portable = true;
 #else
-   const char *appdata = getenv("HOME");
-
-   if (appdata)
+   CFStringRef key = CFStringCreateWithCString(NULL, "RAPortableInstall", kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
+   CFBooleanRef val = CFBundleGetValueForInfoDictionaryKey(bundle, key);
+   if (val)
+       portable = CFBooleanGetValue(val);
+   CFRelease(val);
+   CFRelease(key);
+#endif
+   if (portable)
    {
-      fill_pathname_join(s, appdata,
-            "Library/Application Support/RetroArch", len);
-      return true;
+       CFStringRef parent_path;
+       CFURLRef bundle_url, parent_url;
+       bundle_url  = CFBundleCopyBundleURL(bundle);
+       parent_url  = CFURLCreateCopyDeletingLastPathComponent(NULL, bundle_url);
+       parent_path = CFURLCopyFileSystemPath(parent_url, kCFURLPOSIXPathStyle);
+       CFStringGetCString(parent_path, s, len, kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
+       CFRelease(parent_path);
+       CFRelease(parent_url);
+       CFRelease(bundle_url);
+       return true;
+   }
+   else
+   {
+       const char *appdata = getenv("HOME");
+
+       if (appdata)
+       {
+           fill_pathname_join(s, appdata,
+                              "Library/Application Support/RetroArch", len);
+           return true;
+       }
    }
-#endif
 #elif defined(RARCH_UNIX_CWD_ENV)
    getcwd(s, len);
    return true;
diff --git a/frontend/drivers/platform_darwin.m b/frontend/drivers/platform_darwin.m
index 795e21a4238..b49ea56843a 100644
--- a/frontend/drivers/platform_darwin.m
+++ b/frontend/drivers/platform_darwin.m
@@ -344,6 +344,7 @@ static void frontend_darwin_get_env(int *argc, char *argv[],
    char documents_dir_buf[PATH_MAX_LENGTH] = {0};
    char application_data[PATH_MAX_LENGTH]  = {0};
    CFBundleRef bundle                      = CFBundleGetMainBundle();
+   BOOL portable;
 
    if (!bundle)
       return;
@@ -356,23 +357,29 @@ static void frontend_darwin_get_env(int *argc, char *argv[],
 
 #if HAVE_STEAM
    /* For Steam, we're going to put everything next to the .app */
-   fill_pathname_application_data(documents_dir_buf, sizeof(documents_dir_buf));
+   portable = YES;
 #else
-   CFSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(documents_dir_buf, sizeof(documents_dir_buf));
-#if TARGET_OS_IPHONE
-   char resolved_documents_dir_buf[PATH_MAX_LENGTH] = {0};
-   char resolved_bundle_dir_buf[PATH_MAX_LENGTH] = {0};
-   if (realpath(documents_dir_buf, resolved_documents_dir_buf))
-      strlcpy(documents_dir_buf,
-               resolved_documents_dir_buf,
-               sizeof(documents_dir_buf));
-   if (realpath(bundle_path_buf, resolved_bundle_dir_buf))
-      strlcpy(bundle_path_buf,
-            resolved_bundle_dir_buf,
-            sizeof(bundle_path_buf));
-#endif
-   strlcat(documents_dir_buf, "/RetroArch", sizeof(documents_dir_buf));
+   portable = [[[NSBundle mainBundle] objectForInfoDictionaryKey:@"RAPortableInstall"] boolValue];
 #endif
+   if (portable)
+      fill_pathname_application_data(documents_dir_buf, sizeof(documents_dir_buf));
+   else
+   {
+      CFSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(documents_dir_buf, sizeof(documents_dir_buf));
+#if TARGET_OS_IPHONE
+      char resolved_documents_dir_buf[PATH_MAX_LENGTH] = {0};
+      char resolved_bundle_dir_buf[PATH_MAX_LENGTH] = {0};
+      if (realpath(documents_dir_buf, resolved_documents_dir_buf))
+         strlcpy(documents_dir_buf,
+                 resolved_documents_dir_buf,
+                 sizeof(documents_dir_buf));
+      if (realpath(bundle_path_buf, resolved_bundle_dir_buf))
+         strlcpy(bundle_path_buf,
+                 resolved_bundle_dir_buf,
+                 sizeof(bundle_path_buf));
+#endif
+      strlcat(documents_dir_buf, "/RetroArch", sizeof(documents_dir_buf));
+   }
 
 #if defined(OSX)
    fill_pathname_application_data(application_data, sizeof(application_data));
diff --git a/pkg/apple/OSX/Info_Metal.plist b/pkg/apple/OSX/Info_Metal.plist
index ebd73fd076a..3dabdb556a7 100644
--- a/pkg/apple/OSX/Info_Metal.plist
+++ b/pkg/apple/OSX/Info_Metal.plist
@@ -51,5 +51,7 @@
 	<string>MainMenu_Metal</string>
 	<key>NSPrincipalClass</key>
 	<string>NSApplication</string>
+	<key>RAPortableInstall</key>
+	<false/>
 </dict>
 </plist>