diff -ur kdelibs-3.5.10/kdecore/kglobalsettings.cpp kdelibs-3.5.10-kglobalsettings-xdg-user-dirs/kdecore/kglobalsettings.cpp
--- kdelibs-3.5.10/kdecore/kglobalsettings.cpp	2005-10-10 17:06:03.000000000 +0200
+++ kdelibs-3.5.10-kglobalsettings-xdg-user-dirs/kdecore/kglobalsettings.cpp	2019-08-10 17:57:32.256483651 +0200
@@ -50,6 +50,10 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <kprotocolinfo.h>
 
+#include <qtextcodec.h>
+#include <qtextstream.h>
+#include <qfile.h>
+
 #ifdef Q_WS_X11
 #include <X11/Xlib.h>
 #endif
@@ -77,6 +81,31 @@
 
 KGlobalSettings::KMouseSettings *KGlobalSettings::s_mouseSettings = 0;
 
+// helper function for reading xdg user dirs: it is required in order to take 
+// care of locale stuff
+void readXdgUserDirs(QString *desktop, QString *documents)
+{
+    QFile f( QDir::homeDirPath() + "/.config/user-dirs.dirs" );
+
+    if (!f.open(IO_ReadOnly))
+        return;
+
+    // set the codec for the current locale
+    QTextStream s(&f);
+    s.setCodec( QTextCodec::codecForLocale() );
+
+    QString line = s.readLine();
+    while (!line.isNull())
+    {
+        if (line.startsWith("XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="))
+            *desktop = line.remove("XDG_DESKTOP_DIR=").remove("\"").replace("$HOME", QDir::homeDirPath());
+        else if (line.startsWith("XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="))
+            *documents = line.remove("XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR=").remove("\"").replace("$HOME", QDir::homeDirPath());
+
+        line = s.readLine();
+    }
+}
+
 int KGlobalSettings::dndEventDelay()
 {
     KConfigGroup g( KGlobal::config(), "General" );
@@ -483,13 +512,27 @@
 
     KConfigGroup g( KGlobal::config(), "Paths" );
 
-    // Desktop Path
-    *s_desktopPath = QDir::homeDirPath() + "/Desktop/";
-    *s_desktopPath = g.readPathEntry( "Desktop", *s_desktopPath);
+    // Read desktop and documents path using XDG_USER_DIRS
+    readXdgUserDirs(s_desktopPath, s_documentPath);
+    
+    if (s_desktopPath->isEmpty() == true) {
+      *s_desktopPath = QDir::homeDirPath() + "/Desktop/";
+    }
     *s_desktopPath = QDir::cleanDirPath( *s_desktopPath );
     if ( !s_desktopPath->endsWith("/") )
       s_desktopPath->append('/');
 
+    if (s_documentPath->isEmpty() == true) {
+#ifdef Q_WS_WIN
+      *s_documentPath = getWin32ShellFoldersPath("Personal");
+#else
+      *s_documentPath = QDir::homeDirPath() + "/Documents/";
+#endif
+    }
+    *s_documentPath = QDir::cleanDirPath( *s_documentPath );
+    if ( !s_documentPath->endsWith("/"))
+      s_documentPath->append('/');
+
     // Trash Path - TODO remove in KDE4 (kio_trash can't use it for interoperability reasons)
     *s_trashPath = *s_desktopPath + i18n("Trash") + "/";
     *s_trashPath = g.readPathEntry( "Trash" , *s_trashPath);
@@ -510,18 +553,6 @@
     if ( !s_autostartPath->endsWith("/") )
       s_autostartPath->append('/');
 
-    // Document Path
-    *s_documentPath = g.readPathEntry( "Documents", 
-#ifdef Q_WS_WIN
-        getWin32ShellFoldersPath("Personal")
-#else
-        QDir::homeDirPath()
-#endif
-    );
-    *s_documentPath = QDir::cleanDirPath( *s_documentPath );
-    if ( !s_documentPath->endsWith("/"))
-      s_documentPath->append('/');
-
     // Make sure this app gets the notifications about those paths
     if (kapp)
         kapp->addKipcEventMask(KIPC::SettingsChanged);