diff --git a/apache-maven/src/bin/m2.conf b/apache-maven/src/bin/m2.conf
index 346554cdd4..2235f820f5 100644
--- a/apache-maven/src/bin/m2.conf
+++ b/apache-maven/src/bin/m2.conf
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 main is org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli from plexus.core
 
+set maven.conf default ${maven.home}/conf
+
 [plexus.core]
-load       ${maven.home}/conf/logging
+load       ${maven.conf}/logging
 optionally ${maven.home}/lib/ext/*.jar
 load       ${maven.home}/lib/*.jar
diff --git a/apache-maven/src/conf/settings.xml b/apache-maven/src/conf/settings.xml
index 19d7a97799..e27c579cf6 100644
--- a/apache-maven/src/conf/settings.xml
+++ b/apache-maven/src/conf/settings.xml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ under the License.
  |  2. Global Level. This settings.xml file provides configuration for all Maven
  |                 users on a machine (assuming they're all using the same Maven
  |                 installation). It's normally provided in
- |                 ${maven.home}/conf/settings.xml.
+ |                 ${maven.conf}/settings.xml.
  |
  |                 NOTE: This location can be overridden with the CLI option:
  |
diff --git a/apache-maven/src/conf/toolchains.xml b/apache-maven/src/conf/toolchains.xml
index aefddd8aa5..b737c179bd 100644
--- a/apache-maven/src/conf/toolchains.xml
+++ b/apache-maven/src/conf/toolchains.xml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ under the License.
  |  2. Global Level. This toolchains.xml file provides configuration for all Maven
  |                 users on a machine (assuming they're all using the same Maven
  |                 installation). It's normally provided in
- |                 ${maven.home}/conf/toolchains.xml.
+ |                 ${maven.conf}/toolchains.xml.
  |
  |                 NOTE: This location can be overridden with the CLI option:
  |
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/settings/DefaultMavenSettingsBuilder.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/settings/DefaultMavenSettingsBuilder.java
index 820d886e29..207b9aa472 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/settings/DefaultMavenSettingsBuilder.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/settings/DefaultMavenSettingsBuilder.java
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ public Settings buildSettings( File userSettingsFile )
         throws IOException, XmlPullParserException
     {
         File globalSettingsFile =
-            getFile( "${maven.home}/conf/settings.xml", "maven.home",
+            getFile( "${maven.conf}/settings.xml", "maven.conf",
                      MavenSettingsBuilder.ALT_GLOBAL_SETTINGS_XML_LOCATION );
 
         SettingsBuildingRequest request = new DefaultSettingsBuildingRequest();
diff --git a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/MavenCli.java b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/MavenCli.java
index 2b9f099c23..9da7c4d36c 100644
--- a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/MavenCli.java
+++ b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/MavenCli.java
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ public class MavenCli
     public static final File DEFAULT_USER_TOOLCHAINS_FILE = new File( userMavenConfigurationHome, "toolchains.xml" );
 
     public static final File DEFAULT_GLOBAL_TOOLCHAINS_FILE =
-        new File( System.getProperty( "maven.home", System.getProperty( "user.dir", "" ) ), "conf/toolchains.xml" );
+        new File( System.getProperty( "maven.conf" ), "toolchains.xml" );
 
     private static final String EXT_CLASS_PATH = "maven.ext.class.path";
 
diff --git a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/configuration/SettingsXmlConfigurationProcessor.java b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/configuration/SettingsXmlConfigurationProcessor.java
index 791a226747..d9a69548be 100644
--- a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/configuration/SettingsXmlConfigurationProcessor.java
+++ b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/configuration/SettingsXmlConfigurationProcessor.java
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ public class SettingsXmlConfigurationProcessor
 
     public static final File DEFAULT_USER_SETTINGS_FILE = new File( USER_MAVEN_CONFIGURATION_HOME, "settings.xml" );
 
-    public static final File DEFAULT_GLOBAL_SETTINGS_FILE = new File( System.getProperty( "maven.home", System
-        .getProperty( "user.dir", "" ) ), "conf/settings.xml" );
+    public static final File DEFAULT_GLOBAL_SETTINGS_FILE =
+        new File( System.getProperty( "maven.conf" ), "settings.xml" );
 
     @Requirement
     private Logger logger;
diff --git a/maven-embedder/src/site/apt/logging.apt b/maven-embedder/src/site/apt/logging.apt
index cc9257d304..d1eb53af6b 100644
--- a/maven-embedder/src/site/apt/logging.apt
+++ b/maven-embedder/src/site/apt/logging.apt
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ Maven Logging
 
  Logging configuration loading is actually done by logging implementation, without any Maven extensions to support merging
  Maven installation configuration with per-user configuration for example:
- `${maven.home}/conf/logging` directory was added to core's classpath (see `${maven.home}/bin/m2.conf`). See your implementation
+ <<<$\{maven.conf}/logging>>> directory was added to core's classpath (see <<<$\{maven.home}/bin/m2.conf>>>). See your implementation
  documentation for details on file names, formats, and so on.
 
  During Maven initialization, Maven tweaks default root logging level to match CLI verbosity choice. Since such feature isn't available