diff --git a/source/duke3d/src/menus.cpp b/source/duke3d/src/menus.cpp
index a8c9bd943..7978d6ad2 100644
--- a/source/duke3d/src/menus.cpp
+++ b/source/duke3d/src/menus.cpp
@@ -1448,9 +1448,9 @@ static MenuTextForm_t M_CHEATENTRY = { NULL, "Enter Cheat Code:", MAXCHEATLEN, 0
 static MenuTextForm_t M_CHEAT_WARP = { NULL, "Enter Warp #:", 3, 0 };
 static MenuTextForm_t M_CHEAT_SKILL = { NULL, "Enter Skill #:", 1, 0 };
 
-#define MAKE_MENUFILESELECT(a, b, c) { a, { &MMF_FileSelectLeft, &MMF_FileSelectRight }, { &MF_Minifont, &MF_Minifont }, b, c, { NULL, NULL }, { 0, 0 }, { 3<<16, 3<<16 }, FNLIST_INITIALIZER, 0 }
+#define MAKE_MENUFILESELECT(a, dir, b, c) { a, { &MMF_FileSelectLeft, &MMF_FileSelectRight }, { &MF_Minifont, &MF_Minifont }, dir, b, c, { NULL, NULL }, { 0, 0 }, { 3<<16, 3<<16 }, FNLIST_INITIALIZER, 0 }
 
-static MenuFileSelect_t M_USERMAP = MAKE_MENUFILESELECT( "Select A User Map", "*.map", boardfilename );
+static MenuFileSelect_t M_USERMAP = MAKE_MENUFILESELECT( "Select A User Map", "./usermaps/", "*.map", boardfilename );
 
 // MUST be in ascending order of MenuID enum values due to binary search
 static Menu_t Menus[] = {
@@ -3952,7 +3952,16 @@ static void Menu_FileSelectInit(MenuFileSelect_t *object)
     fnlist_clearnames(&object->fnlist);
 
     if (object->destination[0] == 0)
-        Bstrcpy(object->destination, "./");
+    {
+        BDIR * usermaps = Bopendir(object->startdir);
+        if (usermaps)
+        {
+            Bclosedir(usermaps);
+            Bstrcpy(object->destination, object->startdir);
+        }
+        else
+            Bstrcpy(object->destination, "./");
+    }
     Bcorrectfilename(object->destination, 1);
 
     fnlist_getnames(&object->fnlist, object->destination, object->pattern, 0, 0);
diff --git a/source/duke3d/src/menus.h b/source/duke3d/src/menus.h
index 66c38a16f..12b48377e 100644
--- a/source/duke3d/src/menus.h
+++ b/source/duke3d/src/menus.h
@@ -421,6 +421,7 @@ typedef struct MenuFileSelect_t
     MenuFont_t *font[2];
 
     // traits
+    const char * startdir;
     const char *pattern;
     char *destination;