diff --git a/bin/cdist b/bin/cdist
index 2ce40ae0..66ccbb5a 100755
--- a/bin/cdist
+++ b/bin/cdist
@@ -25,13 +25,19 @@ import logging
 import os
 import sys
 
-cdist_bin = os.path.abspath(__file__)
-if os.path.islink(cdist_bin):
-    cdist_bin = os.readlink(cdist_bin)
-cdist_dir = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(cdist_bin), os.pardir))
-sys.path.insert(0, cdist_dir)
+# try to import cdist and if that fails, then add this file's parent dir to
+# module search path and try again. additionally check if this file is
+# symlinked, so user can symlink this file to, for example, ~/.local/bin.
+try:
+    import cdist
+except ModuleNotFoundError:
+    cdist_bin = os.path.abspath(__file__)
+    if os.path.islink(cdist_bin):
+        cdist_bin = os.readlink(cdist_bin)
+    cdist_dir = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(cdist_bin), os.pardir))
+    sys.path.insert(0, cdist_dir)
+    import cdist
 
-import cdist
 import cdist.argparse
 import cdist.banner
 import cdist.config