diff --git a/wp-admin/includes/file.php b/wp-admin/includes/file.php
index 2bb211ea36..907041e21d 100644
--- a/wp-admin/includes/file.php
+++ b/wp-admin/includes/file.php
@@ -155,6 +155,10 @@ function get_temp_dir() {
 
 	if  ( function_exists('sys_get_temp_dir') )
 		return trailingslashit(sys_get_temp_dir());
+	
+	$temp = ini_get('upload_tmp_dir');
+	if ( is_dir($temp) ) // always writable
+		return trailingslashit($temp);
 
 	return '/tmp/';
 }