diff --git a/query_classifier/qc_mysqlembedded/qc_mysqlembedded.cc b/query_classifier/qc_mysqlembedded/qc_mysqlembedded.cc
index a15d5c298..a8cdb9727 100644
--- a/query_classifier/qc_mysqlembedded/qc_mysqlembedded.cc
+++ b/query_classifier/qc_mysqlembedded/qc_mysqlembedded.cc
@@ -1812,33 +1812,6 @@ char datadir_arg[OPTIONS_DATADIR_SIZE];
 char language_arg[OPTIONS_LANGUAGE_SIZE];
 
 
-bool create_datadir(const char* base, char* datadir)
-{
-    bool created = false;
-
-    if (snprintf(datadir, PATH_MAX, "%s/data%d", base, getpid()) < PATH_MAX)
-    {
-        int rc = mkdir(datadir, 0777);
-
-        if ((rc == 0) || (errno == EEXIST))
-        {
-            created = true;
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            char errbuf[STRERROR_BUFLEN];
-            fprintf(stderr, "MaxScale: error: Cannot create data directory '%s': %d %s\n",
-                    datadir, errno, strerror_r(errno, errbuf, sizeof(errbuf)));
-        }
-    }
-    else
-    {
-        fprintf(stderr, "MaxScale: error: Too long data directory: %s/data%d.", base, getpid());
-    }
-
-    return created;
-}
-
 void configure_options(const char* datadir, const char* langdir)
 {
     int rv;
@@ -1861,7 +1834,6 @@ void configure_options(const char* datadir, const char* langdir)
 bool qc_init(void)
 {
     bool inited = false;
-    char datadir[PATH_MAX];
 
     if (strlen(get_langdir()) >= PATH_MAX)
     {
@@ -1869,25 +1841,22 @@ bool qc_init(void)
     }
     else
     {
-        if (create_datadir(get_datadir(), datadir))
+        configure_options(get_process_datadir(), get_langdir());
+
+        int argc = N_OPTIONS;
+        char** argv = const_cast<char**>(server_options);
+        char** groups = const_cast<char**>(server_groups);
+
+        int rc = mysql_library_init(argc, argv, groups);
+
+        if (rc != 0)
         {
-            configure_options(datadir, get_langdir());
-
-            int argc = N_OPTIONS;
-            char** argv = const_cast<char**>(server_options);
-            char** groups = const_cast<char**>(server_groups);
-
-            int rc = mysql_library_init(argc, argv, groups);
-
-            if (rc != 0)
-            {
-                MXS_ERROR("mysql_library_init() failed. Error code: %d", rc);
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                MXS_NOTICE("Query classifier initialized.");
-                inited = true;
-            }
+            MXS_ERROR("mysql_library_init() failed. Error code: %d", rc);
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            MXS_NOTICE("Query classifier initialized.");
+            inited = true;
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/server/core/gateway.c b/server/core/gateway.c
index e0d11c71f..5c4192275 100644
--- a/server/core/gateway.c
+++ b/server/core/gateway.c
@@ -439,7 +439,54 @@ static int signal_set(int sig, void (*handler)(int))
     return rc;
 }
 
+/**
+ * @brief Create the data directory for this process
+ *
+ * This will prevent conflicts when multiple MaxScale instances are run on the
+ * same machine.
+ * @param base Base datadir path
+ * @param datadir The result where the process specific datadir is stored
+ * @return True if creation was successful and false on error
+ */
+static bool create_datadir(const char* base, char* datadir)
+{
+    bool created = false;
+    int len = 0;
 
+    if ((len = snprintf(datadir, PATH_MAX, "%s", base)) < PATH_MAX &&
+        (mkdir(datadir, 0777) == 0 || errno == EEXIST))
+    {
+        if ((len = snprintf(datadir, PATH_MAX, "%s/data%d", base, getpid())) < PATH_MAX)
+        {
+            if ((mkdir(datadir, 0777) == 0) || (errno == EEXIST))
+            {
+                created = true;
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                char errbuf[STRERROR_BUFLEN];
+                MXS_ERROR("Cannot create data directory '%s': %d %s\n",
+                          datadir, errno, strerror_r(errno, errbuf, sizeof(errbuf)));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        if (len < PATH_MAX)
+        {
+            char errbuf[STRERROR_BUFLEN];
+            fprintf(stderr, "Error: Cannot create data directory '%s': %d %s\n",
+                    datadir, errno, strerror_r(errno, errbuf, sizeof(errbuf)));
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            MXS_ERROR("Data directory pathname exceeds the maximum allowed pathname "
+                      "length: %s/data%d.", base, getpid());
+        }
+    }
+
+    return created;
+}
 
 /**
  * Cleanup the temporary data directory we created for the gateway
@@ -456,23 +503,28 @@ int ntfw_cb(const char*        filename,
         int eno = errno;
         errno = 0;
         char errbuf[STRERROR_BUFLEN];
-        MXS_ERROR("Failed to remove the data directory %s of "
-                  "MaxScale due to %d, %s.",
-                  datadir,
-                  eno,
-                  strerror_r(eno, errbuf, sizeof(errbuf)));
+        MXS_ERROR("Failed to remove the data directory %s of MaxScale due to %d, %s.",
+                  datadir, eno, strerror_r(eno, errbuf, sizeof(errbuf)));
     }
     return rc;
 }
 
-void datadir_cleanup()
+/**
+ * @brief Clean up the data directory
+ *
+ * This removes the process specific datadir which is currently only used by
+ * the embedded library. In the future this directory could contain other
+ * temporary files and relocating this to to, for example, /tmp/ could make sense.
+ */
+void cleanup_process_datadir()
 {
     int depth = 1;
     int flags = FTW_CHDIR|FTW_DEPTH|FTW_MOUNT;
+    const char *proc_datadir = get_process_datadir();
 
-    if (datadir[0] != 0 && access(datadir, F_OK) == 0)
+    if (strcmp(proc_datadir, get_datadir()) != 0 && access(proc_datadir, F_OK) == 0)
     {
-        nftw(datadir, ntfw_cb, depth, flags);
+        nftw(proc_datadir, ntfw_cb, depth, flags);
     }
 }
 
@@ -1235,7 +1287,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     ssize_t  log_flush_timeout_ms = 0;
     sigset_t sigpipe_mask;
     sigset_t saved_mask;
-    void   (*exitfunp[4])(void) = { mxs_log_finish, datadir_cleanup, write_footer, NULL };
+    void   (*exitfunp[4])(void) = { mxs_log_finish, cleanup_process_datadir, write_footer, NULL };
 
     *syslog_enabled = 1;
     *maxlog_enabled = 1;
@@ -1718,23 +1770,20 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     }
 
     /*
-     * Set a data directory for the mysqld library, we use
-     * a unique directory name to avoid clauses if multiple
-     * instances of the gateway are being run on the same
-     * machine.
+     * Set the data directory for the mysqld library. We use
+     * a unique directory name to avoid conflicts if multiple
+     * instances of MaxScale are being run on the same machine.
      */
-
-    snprintf(datadir, PATH_MAX, "%s", get_datadir());
-    datadir[PATH_MAX] = '\0';
-    if (mkdir(datadir, 0777) != 0){
-
-        if (errno != EEXIST){
-            char errbuf[STRERROR_BUFLEN];
-            fprintf(stderr,
-                    "Error: Cannot create data directory '%s': %d %s\n",
-                    datadir, errno, strerror_r(errno, errbuf, sizeof(errbuf)));
-            goto return_main;
-        }
+    if (create_datadir(get_datadir(), datadir))
+    {
+        set_process_datadir(datadir);
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        char errbuf[STRERROR_BUFLEN];
+        MXS_ERROR("Cannot create data directory '%s': %d %s\n",
+                  datadir, errno, strerror_r(errno, errbuf, sizeof(errbuf)));
+        goto return_main;
     }
 
     if (!daemon_mode)
@@ -1946,7 +1995,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     qc_end();
 
     utils_end();
-    datadir_cleanup();
+    cleanup_process_datadir();
     MXS_NOTICE("MaxScale shutdown completed.");
 
     unload_all_modules();
diff --git a/server/core/gwdirs.c b/server/core/gwdirs.c
index 970ec603f..9b28ccc73 100644
--- a/server/core/gwdirs.c
+++ b/server/core/gwdirs.c
@@ -85,6 +85,17 @@ void set_datadir(char* param)
     maxscaledatadir = param;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Set the data directory
+ * @param str Path to directory
+ */
+void set_process_datadir(char* param)
+{
+    free(processdatadir);
+    clean_up_pathname(param);
+    processdatadir = param;
+}
+
 /**
  * Set the library directory. Modules will be loaded from here.
  * @param str Path to directory
@@ -127,14 +138,23 @@ char* get_cachedir()
 }
 
 /**
- * Get the service cache directory
- * @return The path to the cache directory
+ * Get the MaxScale data directory
+ * @return The path to the data directory
  */
 char* get_datadir()
 {
     return maxscaledatadir ? maxscaledatadir : (char*) default_datadir;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Get the process specific data directory
+ * @return The path to the process specific directory
+ */
+char* get_process_datadir()
+{
+    return processdatadir ? processdatadir : (char*) default_datadir;
+}
+
 /**
  * Get the configuration file directory
  * @return The path to the configuration file directory
diff --git a/server/include/gwdirs.h.in b/server/include/gwdirs.h.in
index 440cd56b3..61a624790 100644
--- a/server/include/gwdirs.h.in
+++ b/server/include/gwdirs.h.in
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ static const char* default_configdir = "/etc";
   * uses /run for PID files.*/
 static const char* default_piddir = "@MAXSCALE_VARDIR@/run/maxscale";
 static const char* default_logdir = "@MAXSCALE_VARDIR@/log/maxscale";
-static const char* default_datadir = "@MAXSCALE_VARDIR@/lib/maxscale/data";
+static const char* default_datadir = "@MAXSCALE_VARDIR@/lib/maxscale";
 static const char* default_libdir = "@CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX@/@MAXSCALE_LIBDIR@";
 static const char* default_cachedir = "@MAXSCALE_VARDIR@/cache/maxscale";
 static const char* default_langdir = "@MAXSCALE_VARDIR@/lib/maxscale";
@@ -45,13 +45,15 @@ static char* configdir = NULL;
 static char* logdir = NULL;
 static char* libdir = NULL;
 static char* cachedir = NULL;
-static char* maxscaledatadir = NULL;
+static char* maxscaledatadir = NULL; /*< The data directory */
+static char* processdatadir = NULL; /*< Process specific data directory */
 static char* langdir = NULL;
 static char* piddir = NULL;
 static char* execdir = NULL;
 
 void set_libdir(char* param);
 void set_datadir(char* param);
+void set_process_datadir(char* param);
 void set_cachedir(char* param);
 void set_configdir(char* param);
 void set_logdir(char* param);
@@ -60,6 +62,7 @@ void set_piddir(char* param);
 void set_execdir(char* param);
 char* get_libdir();
 char* get_datadir();
+char* get_process_datadir();
 char* get_cachedir();
 char* get_configdir();
 char* get_piddir();