diff --git a/include/downloader.h b/include/downloader.h
index 4cc7b7730..8342c4f40 100644
--- a/include/downloader.h
+++ b/include/downloader.h
@@ -191,10 +191,11 @@ class Downloader
    * User should call `update` on the returned `Download` to have an accurate status.
    *
    * @param uri: The uri of the thing to download.
+   * @param downloadDir: The download directory where the thing should be stored (takes precedence over any "dir" in `options`).
    * @param options: A series of pair <option_name, option_value> to pass to aria.
    * @return: The newly created Download.
    */
-  std::shared_ptr<Download> startDownload(const std::string& uri, const Options& options = {});
+  std::shared_ptr<Download> startDownload(const std::string& uri, const std::string& downloadDir, Options options = {});
 
   /**
    * Get a download corrsponding to a download id (did)
diff --git a/src/aria2.cpp b/src/aria2.cpp
index 206a3032e..f2725c9fd 100644
--- a/src/aria2.cpp
+++ b/src/aria2.cpp
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@ Aria2::Aria2():
   std::vector<const char*> callCmd;
 
   std::string rpc_port = "--rpc-listen-port=" + to_string(m_port);
-  std::string download_dir = "--dir=" + getDataDirectory();
   std::string session_file = appendToDirectory(getDataDirectory(), "kiwix.session");
   pauseAnyActiveDownloads(session_file);
   std::string session = "--save-session=" + session_file;
@@ -94,7 +93,6 @@ Aria2::Aria2():
   callCmd.push_back("--enable-rpc");
   callCmd.push_back(rpc_secret.c_str());
   callCmd.push_back(rpc_port.c_str());
-  callCmd.push_back(download_dir.c_str());
   if (fileReadable(session_file)) {
     callCmd.push_back(inputFile.c_str());
   }
diff --git a/src/downloader.cpp b/src/downloader.cpp
index 5193c51de..ffc9d321e 100644
--- a/src/downloader.cpp
+++ b/src/downloader.cpp
@@ -209,9 +209,13 @@ bool downloadCanBeReused(const Download& d,
 
 } // unnamed namespace
 
-std::shared_ptr<Download> Downloader::startDownload(const std::string& uri, const Options& options)
+std::shared_ptr<Download> Downloader::startDownload(const std::string& uri, const std::string& downloadDir, Options options)
 {
   std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(m_lock);
+  options.erase(std::remove_if(options.begin(), options.end(), [](const auto& option) {
+    return option.first == "dir";
+  }), options.end());
+  options.push_back({"dir", downloadDir});
   for (auto& p: m_knownDownloads) {
     auto& d = p.second;
     if ( downloadCanBeReused(*d, uri, options) )