diff --git a/gio/giomodule.c b/gio/giomodule.c
index 2763a98a8..45d56fc82 100644
--- a/gio/giomodule.c
+++ b/gio/giomodule.c
@@ -753,7 +753,7 @@ _g_io_modules_ensure_loaded (void)
 	  gchar **paths;
 	  int i;
 
-	  paths = g_strsplit (module_path, ":", 0);
+	  paths = g_strsplit (module_path, G_SEARCHPATH_SEPARATOR_S, 0);
 
 	  for (i = 0; paths[i] != NULL; i++)
 	    {