Index: xdg/Menu.py
--- xdg/Menu.py.orig
+++ xdg/Menu.py
@@ -626,7 +626,7 @@ class XMLMenuBuilder(object):
             candidate = os.environ.get('XDG_MENU_PREFIX', '') + "applications.menu"
             filename = _get_menu_file_path(candidate)
         if not filename:
-            raise ParsingError('File not found', "/etc/xdg/menus/%s" % candidate)
+            raise ParsingError('File not found', "${SYSCONFDIR}/xdg/menus/%s" % candidate)
         # check if it is a .menu file
         if not filename.endswith(".menu"):
             raise ParsingError('Not a .menu file', filename)