diff --git a/embedding/android/GeckoApp.java b/embedding/android/GeckoApp.java
index 17d0009b4987..6bbe1de7dd43 100644
--- a/embedding/android/GeckoApp.java
+++ b/embedding/android/GeckoApp.java
@@ -425,10 +425,16 @@ abstract public class GeckoApp
         Log.i("GeckoAppJava", "Checking for an update");
 
         int statusCode = 8; // UNEXPECTED_ERROR
+        File downloadDir = null;
+        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 8)
+            downloadDir = getExternalFilesDir(Environment.DIRECTORY_DOWNLOADS);
+        else
+            downloadDir = new File(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory().getPath(), "download");
 
-        String updateDir = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory().getPath() + "/downloads/updates/0/";
-        File updateFile = new File(updateDir + "update.apk");
-        File statusFile = new File(updateDir + "update.status");
+        File updateDir = new File(new File(downloadDir, "updates"),"0");
+
+        File updateFile = new File(updateDir, "update.apk");
+        File statusFile = new File(updateDir, "update.status");
 
         if (!statusFile.exists() || !readUpdateStatus(statusFile).equals("pending"))
             return;
diff --git a/embedding/android/GeckoAppShell.java b/embedding/android/GeckoAppShell.java
index e3e2b7382de3..e23cb92439a6 100644
--- a/embedding/android/GeckoAppShell.java
+++ b/embedding/android/GeckoAppShell.java
@@ -118,8 +118,13 @@ class GeckoAppShell
         GeckoAppShell.putenv("TMPDIR=" + f.getPath());
 
         f = Environment.getDownloadCacheDirectory();
-        GeckoAppShell.putenv("EXTERNAL_STORAGE" + f.getPath());
-
+        GeckoAppShell.putenv("EXTERNAL_STORAGE=" + f.getPath());
+        File downloadDir = null;
+        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 8)
+            downloadDir = GeckoApp.mAppContext.getExternalFilesDir(Environment.DIRECTORY_DOWNLOADS);
+        else
+            downloadDir = new File(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory().getPath(), "download");
+        GeckoAppShell.putenv("DOWNLOADS_DIRECTORY=" + downloadDir.getPath());
         GeckoAppShell.putenv("LANG=" + Locale.getDefault().toString());
 
         loadLibs(apkName);
diff --git a/toolkit/components/downloads/src/nsDownloadManager.cpp b/toolkit/components/downloads/src/nsDownloadManager.cpp
index f72fdcbdcfee..48dc63177811 100644
--- a/toolkit/components/downloads/src/nsDownloadManager.cpp
+++ b/toolkit/components/downloads/src/nsDownloadManager.cpp
@@ -1183,13 +1183,11 @@ nsDownloadManager::GetDefaultDownloadsDirectory(nsILocalFile **aResult)
 #elif defined(ANDROID)
     // Android doesn't have a $HOME directory, and by default we only have
     // write access to /data/data/org.mozilla.{$APP} and /sdcard
-    char* sdcard = getenv("EXTERNAL_STORAGE");
-    if (sdcard) {
-      rv = NS_NewNativeLocalFile(nsDependentCString(sdcard),
+    char* downloadDirPath = getenv("DOWNLOADS_DIRECTORY");
+    if (downloadDirPath) {
+      rv = NS_NewNativeLocalFile(nsDependentCString(downloadDirPath),
                                  PR_TRUE, getter_AddRefs(downloadDir));
       NS_ENSURE_SUCCESS(rv, rv);
-      rv = downloadDir->Append(NS_LITERAL_STRING("downloads"));
-      NS_ENSURE_SUCCESS(rv, rv);
     }
     else {
       rv = NS_ERROR_FAILURE;
diff --git a/uriloader/exthandler/nsExternalHelperAppService.cpp b/uriloader/exthandler/nsExternalHelperAppService.cpp
index 41dfcbd9ec30..7ff51cf26e77 100644
--- a/uriloader/exthandler/nsExternalHelperAppService.cpp
+++ b/uriloader/exthandler/nsExternalHelperAppService.cpp
@@ -468,16 +468,14 @@ static nsresult GetDownloadDirectory(nsIFile **_directory)
   // system, and don't save downloads to temp directories
 
   // On Android we only return something if we have and SD-card
-  char* sdcard = getenv("EXTERNAL_STORAGE");
+  char* downloadDir = getenv("DOWNLOADS_DIRECTORY");
   nsresult rv;
-  if (sdcard) {
+  if (downloadDir) {
     nsCOMPtr<nsILocalFile> ldir; 
-    rv = NS_NewNativeLocalFile(nsDependentCString(sdcard),
+    rv = NS_NewNativeLocalFile(nsDependentCString(downloadDir),
                                PR_TRUE, getter_AddRefs(ldir));
     NS_ENSURE_SUCCESS(rv, rv);
-    rv = ldir->Append(NS_LITERAL_STRING("downloads"));
-    NS_ENSURE_SUCCESS(rv, rv);
-    dir = ldir;
+    dir = do_QueryInterface(ldir);
   }
   else {
     return NS_ERROR_FAILURE;