diff --git a/src/db/db/dbInit.cc b/src/db/db/dbInit.cc
index ff8556ed5..410be0b31 100644
--- a/src/db/db/dbInit.cc
+++ b/src/db/db/dbInit.cc
@@ -95,46 +95,11 @@ static PluginDescriptor load_plugin (const std::string &pp)
   return desc;
 }
 
-/**
- *  @brief Gets the path to the current module
- */
-static std::string
-get_module_path ()
-{
-#if defined(_WIN32)
-
-  HMODULE h_module = NULL;
-  if (GetModuleHandleEx (GET_MODULE_HANDLE_EX_FLAG_FROM_ADDRESS | GET_MODULE_HANDLE_EX_FLAG_UNCHANGED_REFCOUNT, (LPCTSTR) &init, &h_module)) {
-
-    wchar_t buffer[MAX_PATH];
-    int len;
-    if ((len = GetModuleFileName(h_module, buffer, MAX_PATH)) > 0) {
-      return tl::absolute_file_path (tl::to_string (std::wstring (buffer, 0, len)));
-    }
-
-  }
-
-  //  no way to get module file path
-  return std::string ();
-
-#else
-
-  Dl_info info = { };
-  if (dladdr ((void *) &init, &info)) {
-    return tl::absolute_file_path (tl::to_string_from_local (info.dli_fname));
-  } else {
-    tl::warn << tl::to_string (tr ("Unable to get path of db library (as basis for loading db_plugins)"));
-    return std::string ();
-  }
-
-#endif
-}
-
 void init (const std::vector<std::string> &_paths)
 {
   std::vector<std::string> paths = _paths;
   if (paths.empty ()) {
-    std::string module_path = get_module_path ();
+    std::string module_path = tl::get_module_path ((void *) &init);
     if (! module_path.empty ()) {
       paths.push_back (tl::absolute_path (module_path));
     }
@@ -154,6 +119,8 @@ void init (const std::vector<std::string> &_paths)
     const char *db_plugin_dir = "db_plugins";
     std::string pp = tl::combine_path (*p, db_plugin_dir);
 
+    tl::log << tl::sprintf (tl::to_string (tr ("Scanning '%s'' for plugins ..")), pp);
+
     std::vector<std::string> ee = tl::dir_entries (pp, true, false);
 
     tl::GlobPattern pattern;
diff --git a/src/lay/lay/layInit.cc b/src/lay/lay/layInit.cc
index 2a6561728..5bf2bdd9a 100644
--- a/src/lay/lay/layInit.cc
+++ b/src/lay/lay/layInit.cc
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include "tlLog.h"
 #include "tlString.h"
 #include "tlFileUtils.h"
+#include "tlGlobPattern.h"
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #  include <windows.h>
@@ -95,47 +96,11 @@ void load_plugin (const std::string &pp)
   s_plugins.push_back (do_load_plugin (pp));
 }
 
-/**
- *  @brief Gets the path to the current module
- */
-static std::string
-get_module_path ()
-{
-#if defined(_WIN32)
-
-  HMODULE h_module = NULL;
-  if (GetModuleHandleEx (GET_MODULE_HANDLE_EX_FLAG_FROM_ADDRESS | GET_MODULE_HANDLE_EX_FLAG_UNCHANGED_REFCOUNT, (LPCTSTR) &init, &h_module)) {
-
-    wchar_t buffer[MAX_PATH];
-    int len;
-    if ((len = GetModuleFileName(h_module, buffer, MAX_PATH)) > 0) {
-      QFileInfo fi (QString::fromUtf16 ((const ushort *) buffer, len));
-      return tl::to_string (fi.absolutePath ());
-    }
-
-  }
-
-  //  no way to get module file path
-  return std::string ();
-
-#else
-
-  Dl_info info = { };
-  if (dladdr ((void *) &init, &info)) {
-    return tl::absolute_file_path (tl::to_string_from_local (info.dli_fname));
-  } else {
-    tl::warn << tl::to_string (tr ("Unable to get path of lay library (as basis for loading lay_plugins)"));
-    return std::string ();
-  }
-
-#endif
-}
-
 void init (const std::vector<std::string> &_paths)
 {
   std::vector<std::string> paths = _paths;
   if (paths.empty ()) {
-    std::string module_path = get_module_path ();
+    std::string module_path = tl::get_module_path ((void *) &init);
     if (! module_path.empty ()) {
       paths.push_back (module_path);
     }
@@ -151,38 +116,41 @@ void init (const std::vector<std::string> &_paths)
 
   for (std::vector<std::string>::const_iterator p = paths.begin (); p != paths.end (); ++p) {
 
-    //  look next to the db library, but in "lay_plugins" directory
-    const char *db_plugin_dir = "lay_plugins";
-    std::string pp = tl::to_string (QDir (tl::to_qstring (*p)).filePath (QString::fromUtf8 (db_plugin_dir)));
+    //  look next to the lay library, but in "lay_plugins" directory
+    const char *lay_plugin_dir = "lay_plugins";
+    std::string pp = tl::combine_path (*p, lay_plugin_dir);
 
-    QStringList name_filters;
+    tl::log << tl::sprintf (tl::to_string (tr ("Scanning '%s'' for plugins ..")), pp);
+
+    std::vector<std::string> ee = tl::dir_entries (pp, true, false);
+
+    tl::GlobPattern pattern;
 #if defined(_WIN32)
-    name_filters << QString::fromUtf8 ("*.dll");
+    pattern.set_case_sensitive (false);
+    pattern = std::string ("*.dll");
 #else
-    name_filters << QString::fromUtf8 ("*.so");
+    pattern = std::string ("*.so");
 #endif
 
-    QStringList inst_modules = QDir (tl::to_qstring (pp)).entryList (name_filters);
-    inst_modules.sort ();
+    std::vector<std::string> inst_modules;
+    for (std::vector<std::string>::const_iterator e = ee.begin (); e != ee.end (); ++e) {
+      if (pattern.match (*e)) {
+        inst_modules.push_back (*e);
+      }
+    }
 
-    for (QStringList::const_iterator im = inst_modules.begin (); im != inst_modules.end (); ++im) {
+    std::sort (inst_modules.begin (), inst_modules.end ());
 
-      QFileInfo layp_file (tl::to_qstring (pp), *im);
-      if (layp_file.exists () && layp_file.isReadable ()) {
-
-        std::string mn = tl::to_string (layp_file.fileName ());
-        if (modules.find (mn) == modules.end ()) {
-
-          std::string m = tl::to_string (layp_file.absoluteFilePath ());
-          try {
-            s_plugins.push_back (do_load_plugin (m));
-            modules.insert (mn);
-          } catch (tl::Exception (&ex)) {
-            tl::error << ex.msg ();
-          }
+    for (std::vector<std::string>::const_iterator im = inst_modules.begin (); im != inst_modules.end (); ++im) {
 
+      std::string imp = tl::combine_path (pp, *im);
+      if (modules.find (*im) == modules.end ()) {
+        try {
+          s_plugins.push_back (do_load_plugin (imp));
+          modules.insert (*im);
+        } catch (tl::Exception (&ex)) {
+          tl::error << ex.msg ();
         }
-
       }
 
     }
diff --git a/src/tl/tl/tlFileUtils.cc b/src/tl/tl/tlFileUtils.cc
index 2fd67acc8..39bcd7125 100644
--- a/src/tl/tl/tlFileUtils.cc
+++ b/src/tl/tl/tlFileUtils.cc
@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@
 #  include <libproc.h>
 #endif
 
+#if !defined(_WIN32)
+#  include <dlfcn.h>
+#endif
+
 namespace tl
 {
 
@@ -790,4 +794,36 @@ get_inst_path ()
   return s_inst_path;
 }
 
+std::string
+get_module_path (void *addr)
+{
+#if defined(_WIN32)
+
+  HMODULE h_module = NULL;
+  if (GetModuleHandleEx (GET_MODULE_HANDLE_EX_FLAG_FROM_ADDRESS | GET_MODULE_HANDLE_EX_FLAG_UNCHANGED_REFCOUNT, (LPCTSTR) addr, &h_module)) {
+
+    wchar_t buffer[MAX_PATH];
+    int len;
+    if ((len = GetModuleFileName(h_module, buffer, MAX_PATH)) > 0) {
+      return tl::absolute_file_path (tl::to_string (std::wstring (buffer, 0, len)));
+    }
+
+  }
+
+  //  no way to get module file path
+  return std::string ();
+
+#else
+
+  Dl_info info = { };
+  if (dladdr (addr, &info)) {
+    return tl::absolute_file_path (tl::to_string_from_local (info.dli_fname));
+  } else {
+    tl::warn << tl::to_string (tr ("Unable to get path of db library (as basis for loading db_plugins)"));
+    return std::string ();
+  }
+
+#endif
+}
+
 }
diff --git a/src/tl/tl/tlFileUtils.h b/src/tl/tl/tlFileUtils.h
index d73853007..b338822e1 100644
--- a/src/tl/tl/tlFileUtils.h
+++ b/src/tl/tl/tlFileUtils.h
@@ -178,6 +178,12 @@ std::vector<std::string> TL_PUBLIC split_path (const std::string &p, bool keep_l
  */
 std::string TL_PUBLIC get_inst_path ();
 
+/**
+ *  @brief Gets the absolute path of the module (DLL/.so) which contains the given address
+ *  "address" is supposed to be the address of a function inside the module.
+ */
+std::string TL_PUBLIC get_module_path (void *addr);
+
 }
 
 #endif