diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index 459d3b5c06..b2deb8694c 100755
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -296,10 +296,10 @@ nvm_detect_profile() {
       DETECTED_PROFILE="$HOME/.bash_profile"
     fi
   elif [ "${SHELL#*zsh}" != "$SHELL" ]; then
-    if [ -f "$HOME/.zshrc" ]; then
-      DETECTED_PROFILE="$HOME/.zshrc"
-    elif [ -f "$HOME/.zprofile" ]; then
-      DETECTED_PROFILE="$HOME/.zprofile"
+    if [ -f "${ZDOTDIR:-${HOME}}/.zshrc" ]; then
+      DETECTED_PROFILE="${ZDOTDIR:-${HOME}}/.zshrc"
+    elif [ -f "${ZDOTDIR:-${HOME}}/.zprofile" ]; then
+      DETECTED_PROFILE="${ZDOTDIR:-${HOME}}/.zprofile"
     fi
   fi
 
diff --git a/test/install_script/nvm_detect_profile b/test/install_script/nvm_detect_profile
index e9d310defc..1434574669 100755
--- a/test/install_script/nvm_detect_profile
+++ b/test/install_script/nvm_detect_profile
@@ -3,12 +3,16 @@
 setup () {
   HOME="."
   NVM_ENV=testing \. ../../install.sh
+  ZDOTDIR="$HOME/zdotdir"
+  mkdir -p zdotdir
   touch ".bashrc"
   touch ".bash_profile"
   touch ".zprofile"
   touch ".zshrc"
   touch ".profile"
   touch "test_profile"
+  touch "zdotdir/.zshrc"
+  touch "zdotdir/.zprofile"
 }
 
 cleanup () {
@@ -17,7 +21,9 @@ cleanup () {
   unset NVM_DETECT_PROFILE
   unset SHELL
   unset -f setup cleanup die
+  unset ZDOTDIR
   rm -f ".bashrc" ".bash_profile" ".zprofile" ".zshrc" ".profile" "test_profile" > "/dev/null" 2>&1
+  rm -rf zdot>&1
 }
 
 die () { echo "$@" '$NVM_DETECT_PROFILE:' "$NVM_DETECT_PROFILE"; cleanup; exit 1; }
@@ -46,8 +52,14 @@ if [ "$NVM_DETECT_PROFILE" != "test_profile" ]; then
   die "nvm_detect_profile ignored \$PROFILE"
 fi
 
-# .zshrc should be detected for zsh
+# zdotdir/.zshrc should be detected for zsh
 NVM_DETECT_PROFILE="$(SHELL="/bin/zsh"; unset PROFILE; nvm_detect_profile)"
+if [ "$NVM_DETECT_PROFILE" != "$ZDOTDIR/.zshrc" ]; then
+  die "nvm_detect_profile didn't pick \$ZDOTDIR/.zshrc for zsh"
+fi
+
+# .zshrc should be detected for zsh
+NVM_DETECT_PROFILE="$(SHELL="/bin/zsh"; unset PROFILE; unset ZDOTDIR; nvm_detect_profile)"
 if [ "$NVM_DETECT_PROFILE" != "$HOME/.zshrc" ]; then
   die "nvm_detect_profile didn't pick \$HOME/.zshrc for zsh"
 fi
@@ -58,7 +70,6 @@ if [ "$NVM_DETECT_PROFILE" != "test_profile" ]; then
   die "nvm_detect_profile ignored \$PROFILE"
 fi
 
-
 #
 # Confirm $PROFILE is only returned when it points to a valid file
 #
@@ -102,16 +113,30 @@ if [ "$NVM_DETECT_PROFILE" != "$HOME/.bash_profile" ]; then
   die "nvm_detect_profile should have selected .bash_profile"
 fi
 
-# Otherwise, it should favor .zprofile if file exists
+# Otherwise, it should favor zdotdir/.zprofile if file exists
 rm ".bash_profile"
 NVM_DETECT_PROFILE="$(unset SHELL; nvm_detect_profile)"
+if [ "$NVM_DETECT_PROFILE" != "$ZDOTDIR/.zprofile" ]; then
+  die "nvm_detect_profile should have selected zdotdir/.zprofile"
+fi
+
+# Otherwise, it should favor .zprofile if file exists
+rm "zdotdir/.zprofile"
+NVM_DETECT_PROFILE="$(unset SHELL; unset ZDOTDIR; nvm_detect_profile)"
 if [ "$NVM_DETECT_PROFILE" != "$HOME/.zprofile" ]; then
   die "nvm_detect_profile should have selected .zprofile"
 fi
 
-# Otherwise, it should favor .zshrc if file exists
+# Otherwise, it should favor zdotdir/.zshrc if file exists
 rm ".zprofile"
 NVM_DETECT_PROFILE="$(unset SHELL; nvm_detect_profile)"
+if [ "$NVM_DETECT_PROFILE" != "$ZDOTDIR/.zshrc" ]; then
+  die "nvm_detect_profile should have selected zdotdir/.zshrc"
+fi
+
+# Otherwise, it should favor .zshrc if file exists
+rm "zdotdir/.zshrc"
+NVM_DETECT_PROFILE="$(unset SHELL; unset ZDOTDIR; nvm_detect_profile)"
 if [ "$NVM_DETECT_PROFILE" != "$HOME/.zshrc" ]; then
   die "nvm_detect_profile should have selected .zshrc"
 fi