diff --git a/src/utils/applicationstate.cpp b/src/utils/applicationstate.cpp
index 76fc447f9..f02cd9892 100644
--- a/src/utils/applicationstate.cpp
+++ b/src/utils/applicationstate.cpp
@@ -1,30 +1,37 @@
 /*  utils/applicationstate.cpp
 
     This file is part of Kleopatra, the KDE keymanager
     SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2022 g10 Code GmbH
     SPDX-FileContributor: Ingo Klöcker <dev@ingo-kloecker.de>
 
     SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
 */
 
 #include <config-kleopatra.h>
 
 #include "applicationstate.h"
 
 #include <KConfigGroup>
 #include <KSharedConfig>
 
 #include <QFileInfo>
 #include <QStandardPaths>
 
 QString ApplicationState::lastUsedExportDirectory()
 {
-    const KConfigGroup config{KSharedConfig::openConfig(), "ExportDialog"};
-    return config.readEntry("LastDirectory", QStandardPaths::writableLocation(QStandardPaths::DocumentsLocation));
+    QString ret;
+    const KConfigGroup stateConfig{KSharedConfig::openStateConfig(), "Export"};
+    ret = stateConfig.readEntry("LastDirectory");
+    if (ret.isEmpty()) {
+        // try the normal config for backward compatibility
+        const KConfigGroup config{KSharedConfig::openConfig(), "ExportDialog"};
+        ret = config.readEntry("LastDirectory");
+    }
+    return ret.isEmpty() ? QStandardPaths::writableLocation(QStandardPaths::DocumentsLocation) : ret;
 }
 
 void ApplicationState::setLastUsedExportDirectory(const QString &path)
 {
-    KConfigGroup config{KSharedConfig::openConfig(), "ExportDialog"};
-    config.writeEntry("LastDirectory", QFileInfo{path}.absolutePath());
+    KConfigGroup stateConfig{KSharedConfig::openStateConfig(), "Export"};
+    stateConfig.writeEntry("LastDirectory", QFileInfo{path}.absolutePath());
 }