diff --git a/gio/gsettings-bash-completion.sh b/gio/gsettings-bash-completion.sh
index 00f1ca43e..f695afb13 100644
--- a/gio/gsettings-bash-completion.sh
+++ b/gio/gsettings-bash-completion.sh
@@ -5,44 +5,61 @@
 ####################################################################################################
 
 __gsettings() {
-  local choices
+  local choices coffset schemadir
 
-  case "${COMP_CWORD}" in
+  if [ ${COMP_CWORD} -gt 2 ]; then
+      if [ ${COMP_WORDS[1]} = --schemadir ]; then
+	  # this complexity is needed to perform correct tilde expansion
+	  schemadir=$(eval "echo --schemadir ${COMP_WORDS[2]}")
+	  coffset=2
+      else
+	  coffset=0
+      fi
+  else
+      coffset=0
+  fi
+
+  case "$((${COMP_CWORD}-$coffset))" in
     1)
-      choices=$'help \nlist-schemas\nlist-relocatable-schemas\nlist-keys \nlist-children \nlist-recursively \nget \nrange \nset \nreset \nwritable \nmonitor'
+      choices=$'--schemadir\nhelp \nlist-schemas\nlist-relocatable-schemas\nlist-keys \nlist-children \nlist-recursively \nget \nrange \nset \nreset \nwritable \nmonitor'
       ;;
 
     2)
-      case "${COMP_WORDS[1]}" in
+      case "${COMP_WORDS[$(($coffset+1))]}" in
+	--schemadir)
+	  COMPREPLY=($(compgen -o dirnames -- ${COMP_WORDS[${COMP_CWORD}]}))
+	  return 0
+	  ;;
+
         help)
           choices=$'list-schemas\nlist-relocatable-schemas\nlist-keys\nlist-children\nlist-recursively\nget\nrange\nset\nreset\nwritable\nmonitor'
           ;;
         list-keys|list-children|list-recursively)
-          choices="$(gsettings list-schemas)"$'\n'"$(gsettings list-relocatable-schemas | sed -e 's.$.:/.')"
+          choices="$(gsettings $schemadir list-schemas)"$'\n'"$(gsettings $schemadir list-relocatable-schemas | sed -e 's.$.:/.')"
           ;;
 
         get|range|set|reset|writable|monitor)
-          choices="$(gsettings list-schemas | sed -e 's.$. .')"$'\n'"$(gsettings list-relocatable-schemas | sed -e 's.$.:/.')"
+          choices="$(gsettings $schemadir list-schemas | sed -e 's.$. .')"$'\n'"$(gsettings $schemadir list-relocatable-schemas | sed -e 's.$.:/.')"
           ;;
       esac
       ;;
 
     3)
-      case "${COMP_WORDS[1]}" in
+      case "${COMP_WORDS[$(($coffset+1))]}" in
         set)
-          choices="$(gsettings list-keys ${COMP_WORDS[2]} 2> /dev/null | sed -e 's.$. .')"
+          choices="$(gsettings $schemadir list-keys ${COMP_WORDS[$(($coffset+2))]} 2> /dev/null | sed -e 's.$. .')"
           ;;
 
         get|range|reset|writable|monitor)
-          choices="$(gsettings list-keys ${COMP_WORDS[2]} 2> /dev/null)"
+          choices="$(gsettings $schemadir list-keys ${COMP_WORDS[$(($coffset+2))]} 2> /dev/null)"
           ;;
       esac
       ;;
 
     4)
-      case "${COMP_WORDS[1]}" in
+      case "${COMP_WORDS[$(($coffset+2))]}" in
         set)
-          range=($(gsettings range ${COMP_WORDS[2]} ${COMP_WORDS[3]} 2> /dev/null))
+          range=($(gsettings $schemadir range ${COMP_WORDS[$(($coffset+2))]} ${COMP_WORDS[$(($coffset+3))]} 2> /dev/null))
           case "${range[0]}" in
             enum)
               unset range[0]
@@ -59,7 +76,7 @@ __gsettings() {
   esac
 
   local IFS=$'\n'
-  COMPREPLY=($(compgen -W "${choices}" "${COMP_WORDS[$COMP_CWORD]}"))
+  COMPREPLY=($(compgen -W "${choices}" -- "${COMP_WORDS[${COMP_CWORD}]}"))
 }
 
 ####################################################################################################
diff --git a/gio/gsettings-tool.c b/gio/gsettings-tool.c
index 087288d5a..e84eb3527 100644
--- a/gio/gsettings-tool.c
+++ b/gio/gsettings-tool.c
@@ -39,49 +39,51 @@ contained (const gchar * const *items,
 }
 
 static gboolean
-is_schema (const gchar *schema)
+is_relocatable_schema (GSettingsSchema *schema)
 {
-  return contained (g_settings_list_schemas (), schema);
+  return g_settings_schema_get_path (schema) == NULL;
 }
 
 static gboolean
-is_relocatable_schema (const gchar *schema)
+check_relocatable_schema (GSettingsSchema *schema,
+                          const gchar     *schema_id)
 {
-  return contained (g_settings_list_relocatable_schemas (), schema);
+  if (schema == NULL)
+    {
+      g_printerr (_("No such schema '%s'\n"), schema_id);
+      return FALSE;
+    }
+
+  if (!is_relocatable_schema (schema))
+    {
+      g_printerr (_("Schema '%s' is not relocatable "
+                    "(path must not be specified)\n"),
+                  schema_id);
+      return FALSE;
+    }
+
+  return TRUE;
 }
 
 static gboolean
-check_relocatable_schema (const gchar *schema)
+check_schema (GSettingsSchema *schema,
+              const gchar *schema_id)
 {
-  if (is_relocatable_schema (schema))
-    return TRUE;
-
-  if (is_schema (schema))
-    g_printerr (_("Schema '%s' is not relocatable "
-                  "(path must not be specified)\n"),
-                schema);
-
-  else
-    g_printerr (_("No such schema '%s'\n"), schema);
-
-  return FALSE;
-}
-
-static gboolean
-check_schema (const gchar *schema)
-{
-  if (is_schema (schema))
-    return TRUE;
+  if (schema == NULL)
+    {
+      g_printerr (_("No such schema '%s'\n"), schema_id);
+      return FALSE;
+    }
 
   if (is_relocatable_schema (schema))
-    g_printerr (_("Schema '%s' is relocatable "
-                  "(path must be specified)\n"),
-                schema);
+    {
+      g_printerr (_("Schema '%s' is relocatable "
+                    "(path must be specified)\n"),
+                  schema_id);
+      return FALSE;
+    }
 
-  else
-    g_printerr (_("No such schema '%s'\n"), schema);
-
-  return FALSE;
+  return TRUE;
 }
 
 static gboolean
@@ -187,22 +189,22 @@ gsettings_list_children (GSettings   *settings,
   for (i = 0; children[i]; i++)
     {
       GSettings *child;
-      gchar *schema;
+      GSettingsSchema *schema;
       gchar *path;
 
       child = g_settings_get_child (settings, children[i]);
       g_object_get (child,
-                    "schema", &schema,
+                    "settings-schema", &schema,
                     "path", &path,
                     NULL);
 
-      if (is_schema (schema))
-        g_print ("%-*s   %s\n", max, children[i], schema);
+      if (g_settings_schema_get_path (schema) != NULL)
+        g_print ("%-*s   %s\n", max, children[i], g_settings_schema_get_id (schema));
       else
-        g_print ("%-*s   %s:%s\n", max, children[i], schema, path);
+        g_print ("%-*s   %s:%s\n", max, children[i], g_settings_schema_get_id (schema), path);
 
       g_object_unref (child);
-      g_free (schema);
+      g_settings_schema_unref (schema);
       g_free (path);
     }
 
@@ -250,16 +252,15 @@ gsettings_list_recursively (GSettings   *settings,
       for (i = 0; children[i]; i++)
         {
           GSettings *child;
-          gchar *schema;
+          GSettingsSchema *schema;
 
           child = g_settings_get_child (settings, children[i]);
-          g_object_get (child, "schema", &schema, NULL);
+          g_object_get (child, "settings-schema", &schema, NULL);
 
-          if (is_schema (schema))
-            enumerate (child);
+          enumerate (child);
 
           g_object_unref (child);
-          g_free (schema);
+          g_settings_schema_unref (schema);
         }
 
       g_strfreev (children);
@@ -387,16 +388,11 @@ gsettings_reset_recursively (GSettings   *settings,
   for (i = 0; children[i]; i++)
     {
       GSettings *child;
-      gchar *schema;
-
       child = g_settings_get_child (settings, children[i]);
-      g_object_get (child, "schema", &schema, NULL);
 
-      if (is_schema (schema))
-        reset_all_keys (child);
+      reset_all_keys (child);
 
       g_object_unref (child);
-      g_free (schema);
     }
 
   g_strfreev (children);
@@ -619,7 +615,7 @@ gsettings_help (gboolean     requested,
     {
       g_string_append (string,
       _("Usage:\n"
-        "  gsettings COMMAND [ARGS...]\n"
+        "  gsettings [--schemadir SCHEMADIR] COMMAND [ARGS...]\n"
         "\n"
         "Commands:\n"
         "  help                      Show this information\n"
@@ -640,36 +636,36 @@ gsettings_help (gboolean     requested,
     }
   else
     {
-      g_string_append_printf (string, _("Usage:\n  gsettings %s %s\n\n%s\n\n"),
+      g_string_append_printf (string, _("Usage:\n  gsettings [--schemadir SCHEMADIR] %s %s\n\n%s\n\n"),
                               command, synopsis[0] ? _(synopsis) : "", description);
 
-      if (synopsis[0])
-        {
-          g_string_append (string, _("Arguments:\n"));
+      g_string_append (string, _("Arguments:\n"));
 
-          if (strstr (synopsis, "[COMMAND]"))
-            g_string_append (string,
-                           _("  COMMAND   The (optional) command to explain\n"));
+      g_string_append (string,
+                       _("  SCHEMADIR A directory to search for additional schemas\n"));
 
-          else if (strstr (synopsis, "SCHEMA"))
-            g_string_append (string,
-                           _("  SCHEMA    The name of the schema\n"
-                             "  PATH      The path, for relocatable schemas\n"));
+      if (strstr (synopsis, "[COMMAND]"))
+        g_string_append (string,
+                       _("  COMMAND   The (optional) command to explain\n"));
 
-          if (strstr (synopsis, "[KEY]"))
-            g_string_append (string,
-                           _("  KEY       The (optional) key within the schema\n"));
+      else if (strstr (synopsis, "SCHEMA"))
+        g_string_append (string,
+                       _("  SCHEMA    The name of the schema\n"
+                         "  PATH      The path, for relocatable schemas\n"));
 
-          else if (strstr (synopsis, "KEY"))
-            g_string_append (string,
-                           _("  KEY       The key within the schema\n"));
+      if (strstr (synopsis, "[KEY]"))
+        g_string_append (string,
+                       _("  KEY       The (optional) key within the schema\n"));
 
-          if (strstr (synopsis, "VALUE"))
-            g_string_append (string,
-                           _("  VALUE     The value to set\n"));
+      else if (strstr (synopsis, "KEY"))
+        g_string_append (string,
+                       _("  KEY       The key within the schema\n"));
 
-          g_string_append (string, "\n");
-        }
+      if (strstr (synopsis, "VALUE"))
+        g_string_append (string,
+                       _("  VALUE     The value to set\n"));
+
+      g_string_append (string, "\n");
     }
 
   if (requested)
@@ -687,6 +683,8 @@ int
 main (int argc, char **argv)
 {
   void (* function) (GSettings *, const gchar *, const gchar *);
+  GSettingsSchemaSource *schema_source;
+  GSettingsSchema *schema;
   GSettings *settings;
   const gchar *key;
 
@@ -713,7 +711,30 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
   if (argc < 2)
     return gsettings_help (FALSE, NULL);
 
-  else if (strcmp (argv[1], "help") == 0)
+  schema_source = g_settings_schema_source_ref (g_settings_schema_source_get_default ());
+
+  if (argc > 3 && g_str_equal (argv[1], "--schemadir"))
+    {
+      GSettingsSchemaSource *parent = schema_source;
+      GError *error = NULL;
+
+      schema_source = g_settings_schema_source_new_from_directory (argv[2], parent, FALSE, &error);
+      g_settings_schema_source_unref (parent);
+
+      if (schema_source == NULL)
+        {
+          g_printerr ("Could not load schemas from %s: %s\n", argv[2], error->message);
+          g_clear_error (&error);
+
+          return 1;
+        }
+
+      /* shift remaining arguments (not correct wrt argv[0], but doesn't matter) */
+      argv = argv + 2;
+      argc -= 2;
+    }
+
+  if (strcmp (argv[1], "help") == 0)
     return gsettings_help (TRUE, argv[2]);
 
   else if (argc == 2 && strcmp (argv[1], "list-schemas") == 0)
@@ -769,25 +790,29 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 
       parts = g_strsplit (argv[2], ":", 2);
 
+      schema = g_settings_schema_source_lookup (schema_source, parts[0], TRUE);
       if (parts[1])
         {
-          if (!check_relocatable_schema (parts[0]) || !check_path (parts[1]))
+          if (!check_relocatable_schema (schema, parts[0]) || !check_path (parts[1]))
             return 1;
 
-          settings = g_settings_new_with_path (parts[0], parts[1]);
+          settings = g_settings_new_full (schema, NULL, parts[1]);
         }
       else
         {
-          if (!check_schema (parts[0]))
+          if (!check_schema (schema, parts[0]))
             return 1;
 
-          settings = g_settings_new (parts[0]);
+          settings = g_settings_new_full (schema, NULL, NULL);
         }
 
       g_strfreev (parts);
     }
   else
-    settings = NULL;
+    {
+      settings = NULL;
+      schema = NULL;
+    }
 
   if (argc > 3)
     {
@@ -803,6 +828,10 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 
   if (settings != NULL)
     g_object_unref (settings);
+  if (schema != NULL)
+    g_settings_schema_unref (schema);
+
+  g_settings_schema_source_unref (schema_source);
 
   return 0;
 }