diff --git a/data/etc/plinth/plinth.config b/data/etc/plinth/plinth.config
index f99f679bf..86d7766f4 100644
--- a/data/etc/plinth/plinth.config
+++ b/data/etc/plinth/plinth.config
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ log_dir = /var/log/plinth
 server_dir = /plinth
 actions_dir = /usr/share/plinth/actions
 doc_dir = /usr/share/doc/plinth
+custom_static_dir = /var/www/plinth/custom/static
 
 # file locations
 store_file = %(data_dir)s/plinth.sqlite3
diff --git a/data/var/www/plinth/custom/static/theme b/data/var/www/plinth/custom/static/theme
new file mode 120000
index 000000000..932f05ef2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/var/www/plinth/custom/static/theme
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+themes/default/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/data/var/www/plinth/custom/static/themes/default/icons/.gitignore b/data/var/www/plinth/custom/static/themes/default/icons/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..76bedaeab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/var/www/plinth/custom/static/themes/default/icons/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Ignore everything in this directory
+*
+# Except this file
+!.gitignore
+
diff --git a/plinth.config b/plinth.config
index 4efb0ac45..e428bd3f6 100644
--- a/plinth.config
+++ b/plinth.config
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ log_dir = %(file_root)s/data/var/log/plinth
 server_dir = /plinth
 actions_dir = %(file_root)s/actions
 doc_dir = %(file_root)s/doc
+custom_static_dir = %(file_root)s/data/var/www/plinth/custom/static
 
 # file locations
 store_file = %(data_dir)s/plinth.sqlite3
diff --git a/plinth/__main__.py b/plinth/__main__.py
index 541a004da..dc189411d 100644
--- a/plinth/__main__.py
+++ b/plinth/__main__.py
@@ -112,6 +112,19 @@ def setup_server():
     logger.debug('Serving static directory %s on %s', static_dir,
                  django.conf.settings.STATIC_URL)
 
+    custom_static_dir = cfg.custom_static_dir
+    custom_static_url = '/plinth/custom/static'
+    config = {
+        '/': {
+            'tools.staticdir.root': custom_static_dir,
+            'tools.staticdir.on': True,
+            'tools.staticdir.dir': '.'
+        }
+    }
+    cherrypy.tree.mount(None, custom_static_url, config)
+    logger.debug('Serving custom static directory %s on %s', custom_static_dir,
+                 custom_static_url)
+
     js_dir = '/usr/share/javascript'
     js_url = '/javascript'
     config = {
diff --git a/plinth/cfg.py b/plinth/cfg.py
index 22753198c..38f47918b 100644
--- a/plinth/cfg.py
+++ b/plinth/cfg.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ root = None
 file_root = None
 config_dir = None
 data_dir = None
+custom_static_dir = None
 store_file = None
 actions_dir = None
 doc_dir = None
@@ -81,10 +82,9 @@ def read(config_path=None, root_directory=None):
     global config_file  # pylint: disable-msg=invalid-name,global-statement
     config_file = config_path
 
-    parser = configparser.ConfigParser(
-        defaults={
-            'root': os.path.realpath(root_directory),
-        })
+    parser = configparser.ConfigParser(defaults={
+        'root': os.path.realpath(root_directory),
+    })
     parser.read(config_file)
 
     config_items = (
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ def read(config_path=None, root_directory=None):
         ('Path', 'file_root', 'string'),
         ('Path', 'config_dir', 'string'),
         ('Path', 'data_dir', 'string'),
+        ('Path', 'custom_static_dir', 'string'),
         ('Path', 'store_file', 'string'),
         ('Path', 'actions_dir', 'string'),
         ('Path', 'doc_dir', 'string'),