diff --git a/Config.cpp b/Config.cpp
index b2121b4e..81a0bdea 100644
--- a/Config.cpp
+++ b/Config.cpp
@@ -87,6 +87,8 @@ namespace config {
       ("i2pcontrol.address",  value<std::string>()->default_value("127.0.0.1"),           "I2PCP listen address")
       ("i2pcontrol.port",     value<uint16_t>()->default_value(7650),                     "I2PCP listen port")
       ("i2pcontrol.password", value<std::string>()->default_value("itoopie"),             "I2PCP access password")
+      ("i2pcontrol.cert",     value<std::string>()->default_value("i2pcontrol.crt.pem"),  "I2PCP connection cerificate")
+      ("i2pcontrol.key",      value<std::string>()->default_value("i2pcontrol.key.pem"),  "I2PCP connection cerificate key")
       ;
 
     m_OptionsDesc
diff --git a/I2PControl.cpp b/I2PControl.cpp
index 3a8f8919..2efba45f 100644
--- a/I2PControl.cpp
+++ b/I2PControl.cpp
@@ -36,23 +36,20 @@ namespace client
 	{
 		i2p::config::GetOption("i2pcontrol.password", m_Password);
 
-		// certificate				
+		// certificate / keys
+		std::string i2pcp_crt; i2p::config::GetOption("i2pcontrol.cert", i2pcp_crt);
+		std::string i2pcp_key; i2p::config::GetOption("i2pcontrol.key",  i2pcp_key);
+		// TODO: properly handle absolute paths
 		auto path = GetPath ();
-		if (!boost::filesystem::exists (path))
+		if (!boost::filesystem::exists (path / i2pcp_crt) ||
+		    !boost::filesystem::exists (path / i2pcp_key))
 		{
-			if (!boost::filesystem::create_directory (path))
-				LogPrint (eLogError, "Failed to create i2pcontrol directory");
-		}	
-		if (!boost::filesystem::exists (path / I2P_CONTROL_KEY_FILE) ||
-			!boost::filesystem::exists (path / I2P_CONTROL_CERT_FILE))
-		{
-			// create new certificate
-			CreateCertificate ();
-			LogPrint (eLogInfo, "I2PControl certificates created");
+			LogPrint (eLogInfo, "I2PControl: creating new certificate for control connection");
+			CreateCertificate (i2pcp_crt.c_str(), i2pcp_key.c_str());
 		}
 		m_SSLContext.set_options (boost::asio::ssl::context::default_workarounds | boost::asio::ssl::context::no_sslv2 | boost::asio::ssl::context::single_dh_use);
-		m_SSLContext.use_certificate_file ((path / I2P_CONTROL_CERT_FILE).string (), boost::asio::ssl::context::pem);
-		m_SSLContext.use_private_key_file ((path / I2P_CONTROL_KEY_FILE).string (), boost::asio::ssl::context::pem);
+		m_SSLContext.use_certificate_file ((path / i2pcp_crt).string (), boost::asio::ssl::context::pem);
+		m_SSLContext.use_private_key_file ((path / i2pcp_crt).string (), boost::asio::ssl::context::pem);
 
 		// handlers
 		m_MethodHandlers[I2P_CONTROL_METHOD_AUTHENTICATE] = &I2PControlService::AuthenticateHandler; 
diff --git a/I2PControl.h b/I2PControl.h
index 850bab10..38e3db55 100644
--- a/I2PControl.h
+++ b/I2PControl.h
@@ -22,11 +22,6 @@ namespace client
 	const size_t I2P_CONTROL_MAX_REQUEST_SIZE = 1024;
 	typedef std::array<char, I2P_CONTROL_MAX_REQUEST_SIZE> I2PControlBuffer;		
 
-	const char I2P_CONTROL_PATH[] = "ipcontrol";
-	const char I2P_CONTROL_KEY_FILE[] = "key.pem";
-	const char I2P_CONTROL_CERT_FILE[] = "cert.pem";
-	const char I2P_CONTROL_CONFIG_FILE[] = "i2pcontrol.conf";
-
 	const char I2P_CONTROL_PROPERTY_ID[] = "id";
 	const char I2P_CONTROL_PROPERTY_METHOD[] = "method";
 	const char I2P_CONTROL_PROPERTY_PARAMS[] = "params";
@@ -96,7 +91,7 @@ namespace client
 			void HandleResponseSent (const boost::system::error_code& ecode, std::size_t bytes_transferred,
 				std::shared_ptr<ssl_socket> socket, std::shared_ptr<I2PControlBuffer> buf);
 
-			boost::filesystem::path GetPath () const { return i2p::util::filesystem::GetDefaultDataDir() / I2P_CONTROL_PATH; };
+			boost::filesystem::path GetPath () const { return i2p::util::filesystem::GetDefaultDataDir(); };
 			void CreateCertificate (const char *crt_path, const char *key_path);
 
 		private: