diff --git a/cmd/statusd/utils.go b/cmd/statusd/utils.go
index 50c984866..8aa485908 100644
--- a/cmd/statusd/utils.go
+++ b/cmd/statusd/utils.go
@@ -1307,29 +1307,9 @@ func startTestNode(t *testing.T) <-chan struct{} {
 		syncRequired = true
 	}
 
-	// prepare node directory
-	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(geth.TestDataDir, "testnet", "keystore"), os.ModePerm); err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
-
-	// import test account (with test ether on it)
-	importTestAccount := func(accountFile string) error {
-		dst := filepath.Join(geth.TestDataDir, "keystore", accountFile)
-		if _, err := os.Stat(dst); os.IsNotExist(err) {
-			err = geth.CopyFile(dst, filepath.Join(geth.RootDir, "data", accountFile))
-			if err != nil {
-				panic(err)
-			}
-		}
-
-		return nil
-	}
-	if err := importTestAccount("test-account1.pk"); err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
-	if err := importTestAccount("test-account2.pk"); err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
+	// inject test accounts
+	geth.ImportTestAccount(filepath.Join(geth.TestDataDir, "keystore"), "test-account1.pk")
+	geth.ImportTestAccount(filepath.Join(geth.TestDataDir, "keystore"), "test-account2.pk")
 
 	waitForNodeStart := make(chan struct{}, 1)
 	geth.SetDefaultNodeNotificationHandler(func(jsonEvent string) {
diff --git a/geth/node.go b/geth/node.go
index 19af38edc..3397e6f19 100644
--- a/geth/node.go
+++ b/geth/node.go
@@ -63,6 +63,10 @@ func MakeNode(config *params.NodeConfig) *Node {
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(config.DataDir), os.ModePerm); err != nil {
 		Fatalf(err)
 	}
+	// make sure keys directory exists
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(config.KeyStoreDir), os.ModePerm); err != nil {
+		Fatalf(err)
+	}
 
 	// setup logging
 	glog.CopyStandardLogTo("INFO")
@@ -74,6 +78,7 @@ func MakeNode(config *params.NodeConfig) *Node {
 	// configure required node (should you need to update node's config, e.g. add bootstrap nodes, see node.Config)
 	stackConfig := &node.Config{
 		DataDir:           config.DataDir,
+		KeyStoreDir:       config.KeyStoreDir,
 		UseLightweightKDF: true,
 		Name:              config.Name,
 		Version:           config.Version,
diff --git a/geth/params/config.go b/geth/params/config.go
index b4f2782f3..2bb1e1a0b 100644
--- a/geth/params/config.go
+++ b/geth/params/config.go
@@ -129,6 +129,10 @@ type NodeConfig struct {
 	// DataDir is the file system folder the node should use for any data storage needs.
 	DataDir string
 
+	// KeyStoreDir is the file system folder that contains private keys.
+	// If KeyStoreDir is empty, the default location is the "keystore" subdirectory of DataDir.
+	KeyStoreDir string
+
 	// PrivateKeyFile is a filename with node ID (private key)
 	// This file should contain a valid secp256k1 private key that will be used for both
 	// remote peer identification as well as network traffic encryption.
@@ -223,7 +227,6 @@ func NewNodeConfig(dataDir string, networkId int) (*NodeConfig, error) {
 		},
 		WhisperConfig: &WhisperConfig{
 			Enabled:    true,
-			DataDir:    filepath.Join(dataDir, "wnode"),
 			Port:       WhisperPort,
 			MinimumPoW: WhisperMinimumPoW,
 			TTL:        WhisperTTL,
@@ -231,12 +234,32 @@ func NewNodeConfig(dataDir string, networkId int) (*NodeConfig, error) {
 		SwarmConfig: &SwarmConfig{},
 	}
 
+	// auto-populate some dependent values
 	nodeConfig.populateChainConfig()
+	nodeConfig.populateDirs()
 
 	return nodeConfig, nil
 }
 
-// populateChainConfig does necessary adjustments to config object (depending on network node will be runnin on)
+// populateDirs updates directories that should be wrt to DataDir
+func (c *NodeConfig) populateDirs() {
+	makeSubDirPath := func(baseDir, subDir string) string {
+		if len(baseDir) == 0 {
+			return ""
+		}
+
+		return filepath.Join(baseDir, subDir)
+	}
+	if len(c.KeyStoreDir) == 0 {
+		c.KeyStoreDir = makeSubDirPath(c.DataDir, KeyStoreDir)
+	}
+
+	if len(c.WhisperConfig.DataDir) == 0 {
+		c.WhisperConfig.DataDir = makeSubDirPath(c.DataDir, WhisperDataDir)
+	}
+}
+
+// populateChainConfig does necessary adjustments to config object (depending on network node will be running on)
 func (c *NodeConfig) populateChainConfig() {
 	c.TestNet = false
 	if c.NetworkId == TestNetworkId {
@@ -298,6 +321,7 @@ func LoadNodeConfig(configJSON string) (*NodeConfig, error) {
 
 	// repopulate
 	nodeConfig.populateChainConfig()
+	nodeConfig.populateDirs()
 
 	if len(nodeConfig.DataDir) == 0 {
 		return nil, ErrMissingDataDir
diff --git a/geth/params/config_test.go b/geth/params/config_test.go
index 05943d568..c64603a82 100644
--- a/geth/params/config_test.go
+++ b/geth/params/config_test.go
@@ -75,6 +75,53 @@ var loadConfigTestCases = []struct {
 			}
 		},
 	},
+	{
+		`use default KeyStoreDir`,
+		`{
+			"NetworkId": 3,
+			"DataDir": "$TMPDIR"
+		}`,
+		func(t *testing.T, dataDir string, nodeConfig *params.NodeConfig, err error) {
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+			}
+			if _, err := os.Stat(dataDir); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+				t.Fatalf("data directory doesn't exist: %s", dataDir)
+			}
+
+			expectedDataDir := dataDir
+			if nodeConfig.DataDir != expectedDataDir {
+				t.Fatalf("incorrect DataDir used, expected: %v, got: %v", expectedDataDir, nodeConfig.DataDir)
+			}
+
+			expectedKeyStoreDir := filepath.Join(dataDir, params.KeyStoreDir)
+			if nodeConfig.KeyStoreDir != expectedKeyStoreDir {
+				t.Fatalf("incorrect KeyStoreDir used, expected: %v, got: %v", expectedKeyStoreDir, nodeConfig.KeyStoreDir)
+			}
+		},
+	},
+	{
+		`use non-default KeyStoreDir`,
+		`{
+			"NetworkId": 3,
+			"DataDir": "$TMPDIR",
+			"KeyStoreDir": "/foo/bar"
+		}`,
+		func(t *testing.T, dataDir string, nodeConfig *params.NodeConfig, err error) {
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+			}
+			expectedDataDir := dataDir
+			if nodeConfig.DataDir != expectedDataDir {
+				t.Fatalf("incorrect DataDir used, expected: %v, got: %v", expectedDataDir, nodeConfig.DataDir)
+			}
+
+			expectedKeyStoreDir := "/foo/bar"
+			if nodeConfig.KeyStoreDir != expectedKeyStoreDir {
+				t.Fatalf("incorrect KeyStoreDir used, expected: %v, got: %v", expectedKeyStoreDir, nodeConfig.KeyStoreDir)
+			}
+		},
+	},
 	{
 		`test parameter overriding`,
 		`{
diff --git a/geth/params/defaults.go b/geth/params/defaults.go
index 0d4688272..7c18c83e0 100644
--- a/geth/params/defaults.go
+++ b/geth/params/defaults.go
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ const (
 	// DataDir is default data directory used by statusd executable
 	DataDir = "statusd-data"
 
+	// KeyStoreDir is default directory where private keys are stored, relative to DataDir
+	KeyStoreDir = "keystore"
+
 	// IPCFile is filename of exposed IPC RPC Server
 	IPCFile = "geth.ipc"
 
@@ -54,6 +57,9 @@ const (
 	// LogLevel defines the minimum log level to report
 	LogLevel = "INFO"
 
+	// WhisperDataDir is directory where Whisper data is stored, relative to DataDir
+	WhisperDataDir = "wnode"
+
 	// WhisperPort is Whisper node listening port
 	WhisperPort = 30379
 
diff --git a/geth/params/testdata/config.testnet.json b/geth/params/testdata/config.testnet.json
index 911b296cf..a9a92d011 100755
--- a/geth/params/testdata/config.testnet.json
+++ b/geth/params/testdata/config.testnet.json
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
     "TestNet": true,
     "NetworkId": 3,
     "DataDir": "$TMPDIR",
+    "KeyStoreDir": "$TMPDIR/keystore",
     "NodeKeyFile": "",
     "Name": "StatusIM",
     "Version": "$VERSION",
diff --git a/geth/utils.go b/geth/utils.go
index 609269a5b..6a84615e2 100644
--- a/geth/utils.go
+++ b/geth/utils.go
@@ -177,10 +177,11 @@ func PrepareTestNode() (err error) {
 	}
 
 	// start geth node and wait for it to initialize
-	config, err := params.NewNodeConfig(TestDataDir, params.TestNetworkId)
+	config, err := params.NewNodeConfig(filepath.Join(TestDataDir, "data"), params.TestNetworkId)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	config.KeyStoreDir = filepath.Join(TestDataDir, "keystore")
 	config.HTTPPort = testConfig.Node.HTTPPort // to avoid conflicts with running app, using different port in tests
 	config.WSPort = testConfig.Node.WSPort     // ditto
 	config.LogEnabled = true