diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4e3d312..f2205ac 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ Creating user:
 sudo useradd -r -d / -s /usr/sbin/nologin -g systemd-journal systemd-journal-netlog
 ```
 or via sysusers
-    
+
 ``` /usr/lib/sysusers.d/systemd-netlogd.conf```
 ```bash
 #Type   Name                    ID                      GECOS   Home directory  Shell
@@ -63,7 +63,11 @@ systemd-netlogd reads configuration files named `/etc/systemd/netlogd.conf` and
 
        LogFormat=
               Specifies whether to use RFC 5424 format or RFC 3339 format. Takes one of rfc5424 or rfc3339. Defaults to rfc5424.
-       Optional settings
+
+       Directory=
+              Takes a directory path. Specifies whether to operate on the specified journal directory DIR instead of the default runtime and system journal paths.
+
+    Optional settings
 
        StructuredData=
            Meta information about the syslog message, which can be used for Cloud Based
diff --git a/doc/index.rst b/doc/index.rst
index 4c3b22a..96fd02b 100644
--- a/doc/index.rst
+++ b/doc/index.rst
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ This will create a user systemd-journal-netlog
 |   LogFormat=
           Specifies whether to use RFC 5424 format or RFC 3339 format. Takes one of rfc5424 or rfc3339. Defaults to rfc5424.
 
+|   Directory=
+          Takes a directory path. Specifies whether to operate on the specified journal directory DIR instead of the default runtime and system journal paths.
+
 |  Optional settings
 
 |  StructuredData=
diff --git a/src/netlog/netlog-gperf.gperf b/src/netlog/netlog-gperf.gperf
index e6b305c..ba296e1 100644
--- a/src/netlog/netlog-gperf.gperf
+++ b/src/netlog/netlog-gperf.gperf
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ struct ConfigPerfItem;
 Network.Address,                  config_parse_netlog_remote_address, 0, 0
 Network.Protocol,                 config_parse_protocol,              0, offsetof(Manager, protocol)
 Network.LogFormat,                config_parse_log_format,            0, offsetof(Manager, log_format)
+Network.Directory,                config_parse_string,                0, offsetof(Manager, dir)
 Network.StructuredData,           config_parse_string,                0, offsetof(Manager, structured_data)
 Network.UseSysLogStructuredData,  config_parse_bool,                  0, offsetof(Manager, syslog_structured_data)
 Network.UseSysLogMsgId,           config_parse_bool,                  0, offsetof(Manager, syslog_msgid)
diff --git a/src/netlog/netlog-manager.c b/src/netlog/netlog-manager.c
index c640d45..9d37747 100644
--- a/src/netlog/netlog-manager.c
+++ b/src/netlog/netlog-manager.c
@@ -320,20 +320,34 @@ static int manager_signal_event_handler(sd_event_source *event, const struct sig
         return 0;
 }
 
+static int open_journal(Manager *m) {
+        int r;
+
+        assert(m);
+
+        if (m->dir)
+                r = sd_journal_open_directory(&m->journal, m->dir, 0);
+        else
+                r = sd_journal_open(&m->journal, SD_JOURNAL_LOCAL_ONLY);
+
+        if (r < 0)
+                log_error_errno(r, "Failed to open %s: %m", m->dir ?: "journal");
+
+        return 0;
+}
+
 static int manager_journal_monitor_listen(Manager *m) {
         int r, events;
 
         assert(m);
 
-        r = sd_journal_open(&m->journal, SD_JOURNAL_LOCAL_ONLY);
-        if (r < 0) {
-                log_error_errno(r, "Failed to open journal: %m");
+        r = open_journal(m);
+        if (r < 0)
                 return r;
-        }
 
         sd_journal_set_data_threshold(m->journal, 0);
 
-        m->journal_watch_fd  = sd_journal_get_fd(m->journal);
+        m->journal_watch_fd = sd_journal_get_fd(m->journal);
         if (m->journal_watch_fd  < 0)
                 return log_error_errno(m->journal_watch_fd, "Failed to get journal fd: %m");
 
diff --git a/src/netlog/netlog-manager.h b/src/netlog/netlog-manager.h
index d664838..b89845e 100644
--- a/src/netlog/netlog-manager.h
+++ b/src/netlog/netlog-manager.h
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ struct Manager {
         char *state_file;
         char *last_cursor, *current_cursor;
         char *structured_data;
+        char *dir;
 
         SysLogTransmissionProtocol protocol;
         SysLogTransmissionLogFormat log_format;