diff --git a/rpc.js b/rpc.js
index 00ab2949b..9943b0334 100644
--- a/rpc.js
+++ b/rpc.js
@@ -245,6 +245,7 @@ var loadUserPins = function (Env, publicKey, cb) {
     };
 
     var unpin = function (channel) {
+        // TODO delete?
         pins[channel] = false;
     };
 
@@ -263,6 +264,7 @@ var loadUserPins = function (Env, publicKey, cb) {
                     parsed[1].forEach(unpin);
                     break;
                 case 'RESET':
+                    // TODO just wipe out the object?
                     Object.keys(pins).forEach(unpin);
 
                     if (parsed[1] && parsed[1].length) {
@@ -600,9 +602,21 @@ var sumChannelSizes = function (sizes) {
 
 // inform that the
 var loadChannelPins = function (Env) {
-    Pinned.load(function (data) {
+    Pinned.load(function (err, data) {
+        if (err) {
+            Log.error("LOAD_CHANNEL_PINS", err);
+
+            // FIXME not sure what should be done here instead
+            Env.pinnedPads = {};
+            Env.evPinnedPadsReady.fire();
+            return;
+        }
+
+
         Env.pinnedPads = data;
         Env.evPinnedPadsReady.fire();
+    }, {
+        pinPath: Env.paths.pin,
     });
 };
 var addPinned = function (
diff --git a/scripts/pinned.js b/scripts/pinned.js
index 15c1f922f..47e2421e4 100644
--- a/scripts/pinned.js
+++ b/scripts/pinned.js
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 /* jshint esversion: 6, node: true */
 const Fs = require('fs');
+const Path = require("path");
 const Semaphore = require('saferphore');
+const Once = require("../lib/once");
 const nThen = require('nthen');
 
 const sema = Semaphore.create(20);
@@ -9,7 +11,7 @@ let dirList;
 const fileList = [];
 const pinned = {};
 
-const hashesFromPinFile = (pinFile, fileName) => {
+const checkPinStatus = (pinFile, fileName) => {
     var pins = {};
     pinFile.split('\n').filter((x)=>(x)).map((l) => JSON.parse(l)).forEach((l) => {
         switch (l[0]) {
@@ -34,25 +36,34 @@ const hashesFromPinFile = (pinFile, fileName) => {
 };
 
 module.exports.load = function (cb, config) {
+    var pinPath = config.pinPath || './pins';
+    var done = Once(cb);
+
     nThen((waitFor) => {
-        Fs.readdir('../pins', waitFor((err, list) => {
+        // recurse over the configured pinPath, or the default
+        Fs.readdir(pinPath, waitFor((err, list) => {
             if (err) {
                 if (err.code === 'ENOENT') {
                     dirList = [];
-                    return;
+                    return; // this ends up calling back with an empty object
                 }
-                throw err;
+                waitFor.abort();
+                return void done(err);
             }
             dirList = list;
         }));
     }).nThen((waitFor) => {
         dirList.forEach((f) => {
             sema.take((returnAfter) => {
-                Fs.readdir('../pins/' + f, waitFor(returnAfter((err, list2) => {
-                    if (err) { throw err; }
+                // iterate over all the subdirectories in the pin store
+                Fs.readdir(Path.join(pinPath, f), waitFor(returnAfter((err, list2) => {
+                    if (err) {
+                        waitFor.abort();
+                        return void done(err);
+                    }
                     list2.forEach((ff) => {
                         if (config && config.exclude && config.exclude.indexOf(ff) > -1) { return; }
-                        fileList.push('../pins/' + f + '/' + ff);
+                        fileList.push(Path.join(pinPath, f, ff));
                     });
                 })));
             });
@@ -61,8 +72,11 @@ module.exports.load = function (cb, config) {
         fileList.forEach((f) => {
             sema.take((returnAfter) => {
                 Fs.readFile(f, waitFor(returnAfter((err, content) => {
-                    if (err) { throw err; }
-                    const hashes = hashesFromPinFile(content.toString('utf8'), f);
+                    if (err) {
+                        waitFor.abort();
+                        return void done(err);
+                    }
+                    const hashes = checkPinStatus(content.toString('utf8'), f);
                     hashes.forEach((x) => {
                         (pinned[x] = pinned[x] || {})[f.replace(/.*\/([^/]*).ndjson$/, (x, y)=>y)] = 1;
                     });
@@ -70,14 +84,20 @@ module.exports.load = function (cb, config) {
             });
         });
     }).nThen(() => {
-        cb(pinned);
+        done(void 0, pinned);
     });
 };
 
 if (!module.parent) {
-    module.exports.load(function (data) {
+    module.exports.load(function (err, data) {
+        if (err) {
+            return void console.error(err);
+        }
+
         Object.keys(data).forEach(function (x) {
             console.log(x + ' ' + JSON.stringify(data[x]));
         });
+    }, {
+        pinPath: require("../config/config").pinPath
     });
 }