diff --git a/libssu/ssu.h b/libssu/ssu.h
index 3e7e566..bf7e383 100644
--- a/libssu/ssu.h
+++ b/libssu/ssu.h
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 
 #include <QDateTime>
 #include <QObject>
-#include <QSettings>
 #include <QDebug>
 
 #include <QtXml/QDomDocument>
diff --git a/libssu/ssucoreconfig.h b/libssu/ssucoreconfig.h
index ca88c12..76a5fcd 100644
--- a/libssu/ssucoreconfig.h
+++ b/libssu/ssucoreconfig.h
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 #define _SSUCORECONFIG_H
 
 #include <QObject>
-#include <QSettings>
 
 #include "ssusettings.h"
 #include "ssu.h"
diff --git a/libssu/ssudeviceinfo.cpp b/libssu/ssudeviceinfo.cpp
index d1a80ce..cd7eb4d 100644
--- a/libssu/ssudeviceinfo.cpp
+++ b/libssu/ssudeviceinfo.cpp
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ QStringList SsuDeviceInfo::repos(bool rnd, int filter){
       result.append(QString("adaptation%1").arg(i));
 
     // now read the release/rnd repos
-    QSettings repoSettings(SSU_REPO_CONFIGURATION, QSettings::IniFormat);
+    SsuSettings repoSettings(SSU_REPO_CONFIGURATION, QSettings::IniFormat);
     QString repoKey = (rnd ? "default-repos/rnd" : "default-repos/release");
     if (repoSettings.contains(repoKey))
       result.append(repoSettings.value(repoKey).toStringList());
diff --git a/libssu/ssudeviceinfo.h b/libssu/ssudeviceinfo.h
index a506600..2289129 100644
--- a/libssu/ssudeviceinfo.h
+++ b/libssu/ssudeviceinfo.h
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 #define _SSUDEVICEINFO_H
 
 #include <QObject>
-#include <QSettings>
 
 #include "ssusettings.h"
 
diff --git a/libssu/ssurepomanager.cpp b/libssu/ssurepomanager.cpp
index c103ef9..d261d10 100644
--- a/libssu/ssurepomanager.cpp
+++ b/libssu/ssurepomanager.cpp
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include "ssudeviceinfo.h"
 #include "ssurepomanager.h"
 #include "ssucoreconfig.h"
+#include "ssusettings.h"
 #include "ssulog.h"
 #include "ssuvariables.h"
 #include "ssu.h"
@@ -195,8 +196,7 @@ QStringList SsuRepoManager::repoVariables(QHash<QString, QString> *storageHash,
   SsuVariables var;
   SsuCoreConfig *settings = SsuCoreConfig::instance();
   QStringList configSections;
-  QSettings repoSettings(SSU_REPO_CONFIGURATION, QSettings::IniFormat);
-  //QSettings *repoSettings = new QSettings(SSU_REPO_CONFIGURATION, QSettings::IniFormat);
+  SsuSettings repoSettings(SSU_REPO_CONFIGURATION, QSettings::IniFormat);
 
   // fill in all arbitrary variables from ssu.ini
   var.resolveSection(settings, "repository-url-variables", storageHash);
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ QString SsuRepoManager::url(QString repoName, bool rndRepo,
   SsuVariables var;
   SsuLog *ssuLog = SsuLog::instance();
   SsuCoreConfig *settings = SsuCoreConfig::instance();
-  QSettings repoSettings(SSU_REPO_CONFIGURATION, QSettings::IniFormat);
+  SsuSettings repoSettings(SSU_REPO_CONFIGURATION, QSettings::IniFormat);
   SsuDeviceInfo deviceInfo;
 
   // set debugSplit for incorrectly configured debuginfo repositories (debugSplit
diff --git a/libssu/ssurepomanager.h b/libssu/ssurepomanager.h
index dc88310..a1e577c 100644
--- a/libssu/ssurepomanager.h
+++ b/libssu/ssurepomanager.h
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 #define _SSUREPOMANAGER_H
 
 #include <QObject>
-#include <QSettings>
 #include <QHash>
 
 class SsuRepoManager: public QObject {
diff --git a/libssu/ssusettings.cpp b/libssu/ssusettings.cpp
index 9b1f60b..4322abd 100644
--- a/libssu/ssusettings.cpp
+++ b/libssu/ssusettings.cpp
@@ -18,21 +18,32 @@ SsuSettings::SsuSettings(): QSettings(){
 }
 
 SsuSettings::SsuSettings(const QString &fileName, Format format, QObject *parent):
-  QSettings(fileName, format, parent){
+  QSettings(SsuSettings::sandboxPrefix() + fileName, format, parent){
+
 }
 
 SsuSettings::SsuSettings(const QString &fileName, Format format, const QString &defaultFileName, QObject *parent):
-  QSettings(fileName, format, parent){
-  defaultSettingsFile = defaultFileName;
+  QSettings(SsuSettings::sandboxPrefix() + fileName, format, parent){
+  defaultSettingsFile = SsuSettings::sandboxPrefix() +  defaultFileName;
   upgrade();
 }
 
 SsuSettings::SsuSettings(const QString &fileName, const QString &settingsDirectory, QObject *parent):
-  QSettings(fileName, QSettings::IniFormat, parent){
-  settingsd = settingsDirectory;
+  QSettings(SsuSettings::sandboxPrefix() + fileName, QSettings::IniFormat, parent){
+  settingsd = SsuSettings::sandboxPrefix() + settingsDirectory;
   merge();
 }
 
+QString SsuSettings::sandboxPrefix(){
+  /// @TODO: do some verification on the sandbox dir before using it
+  QString sandboxDir = getenv("SSU_SANDBOX_DIR");
+
+  if (!sandboxDir.isEmpty() && !sandboxDir.endsWith("/"))
+    sandboxDir += "/";
+
+  return sandboxDir;
+}
+
 void SsuSettings::merge(bool keepOld){
   if (settingsd == "")
     return;
diff --git a/libssu/ssusettings.h b/libssu/ssusettings.h
index 55a5c4e..28bd51c 100644
--- a/libssu/ssusettings.h
+++ b/libssu/ssusettings.h
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ class SsuSettings: public QSettings {
      * style settings are supported in this mode.
      */
     SsuSettings(const QString &fileName, const QString &settingsDirectory, QObject *parent=0);
+    static QString sandboxPrefix();
 
   private:
     QString defaultSettingsFile, settingsd;
diff --git a/libssu/ssuvariables.cpp b/libssu/ssuvariables.cpp
index 9ad0d21..dc7dc2f 100644
--- a/libssu/ssuvariables.cpp
+++ b/libssu/ssuvariables.cpp
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ SsuVariables::SsuVariables(): QObject() {
 
 }
 
-void SsuVariables::resolveSection(QSettings *settings, QString section, QHash<QString, QString> *storageHash){
+void SsuVariables::resolveSection(SsuSettings *settings, QString section, QHash<QString, QString> *storageHash){
   QStringList repoVariables;
 
   settings->beginGroup(section);
diff --git a/libssu/ssuvariables.h b/libssu/ssuvariables.h
index 78db3f7..34292d0 100644
--- a/libssu/ssuvariables.h
+++ b/libssu/ssuvariables.h
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@
 #define _SSUVARIABLES_H
 
 #include <QObject>
-#include <QSettings>
 #include <QHash>
 
+#include "ssusettings.h"
+
 class SsuVariables: public QObject {
     Q_OBJECT
 
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@ class SsuVariables: public QObject {
      * run them through the variable expander, and add them to the supplied
      * QHash
      */
-    void resolveSection(QSettings *settings, QString section, QHash<QString, QString> *storageHash);
+    void resolveSection(SsuSettings *settings, QString section, QHash<QString, QString> *storageHash);
     /**
      * Resolve a whole string, containing several variables. Variables inside variables are allowed
      */