diff --git a/src/osgPlugins/ive/PagedLOD.cpp b/src/osgPlugins/ive/PagedLOD.cpp
index ae2e397af..0d17b9233 100644
--- a/src/osgPlugins/ive/PagedLOD.cpp
+++ b/src/osgPlugins/ive/PagedLOD.cpp
@@ -97,6 +97,17 @@ void PagedLOD::read(DataInputStream* in){
                 else
                     throw Exception("Group::read(): Could not cast this osg::Group to an osg::Node.");
 
+
+                if (getDatabasePath().empty() && in->getOptions())
+                {
+                    const std::string& path = in->getOptions()->getDatabasePath();
+                    if (!path.empty()) 
+                    {
+                        setDatabasePath(path);
+                    }
+                } 
+
+
                 setRadius(in->readFloat());
                 setNumChildrenThatCannotBeExpired(in->readUInt());
 
diff --git a/src/osgPlugins/ive/ReaderWriterIVE.cpp b/src/osgPlugins/ive/ReaderWriterIVE.cpp
index 423c87f4d..3a37e11c0 100644
--- a/src/osgPlugins/ive/ReaderWriterIVE.cpp
+++ b/src/osgPlugins/ive/ReaderWriterIVE.cpp
@@ -28,8 +28,18 @@ class IVEReaderWriter : public ReaderWriter
             std::string fileName = osgDB::findDataFile( file );
             if (fileName.empty()) return ReadResult::FILE_NOT_FOUND;
     
+            // code for setting up the database path so that any paged
+            // databases can be automatically located. 
+            osg::ref_ptr<Options> local_opt = const_cast<Options*>(options);
+            if (!local_opt) local_opt = new Options;
+
+            if (local_opt.valid() && local_opt->getDatabasePath().empty())
+            {
+                local_opt->setDatabasePath(osgDB::getFilePath(fileName));
+            } 
+
             std::ifstream istream(fileName.c_str(), std::ios::in | std::ios::binary);
-            return readNode(istream,options);
+            return readNode(istream,local_opt.get());
         }
         
         virtual ReadResult readNode(std::istream& fin, const Options* options)
diff --git a/src/osgPlugins/net/ReaderWriterNET.cpp b/src/osgPlugins/net/ReaderWriterNET.cpp
index d04ff9891..dee497e2a 100644
--- a/src/osgPlugins/net/ReaderWriterNET.cpp
+++ b/src/osgPlugins/net/ReaderWriterNET.cpp
@@ -308,12 +308,23 @@ class NetReader : public osgDB::ReaderWriter
 
             } while( linebuff[0] != '\r' );
 
+            // code for setting up the database path so that any paged
+            // databases can be automatically located. 
+            osg::ref_ptr<Options> local_opt = const_cast<Options*>(options);
+            if (!local_opt) local_opt = new Options;
+
+            if (local_opt.valid() && local_opt->getDatabasePath().empty())
+            {
+                local_opt->setDatabasePath(osgDB::getFilePath(inFileName));
+            }
+            
+            
 
             osg::notify(osg::DEBUG_INFO) << "osgPlugin .net: " << fileName << 
                                          " fetched from server." << std::endl;
 
             if( reader != 0L )
-                readResult = readFile(objectType, reader, sio, options );
+                readResult = readFile(objectType, reader, sio, local_opt.get() );
 
             if( !localCacheDir.empty() && cacheMode & Write )
             {
diff --git a/src/osgPlugins/osg/PagedLOD.cpp b/src/osgPlugins/osg/PagedLOD.cpp
index 3c106aef0..1b4edcf28 100644
--- a/src/osgPlugins/osg/PagedLOD.cpp
+++ b/src/osgPlugins/osg/PagedLOD.cpp
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #include "osg/PagedLOD"
+#include "osg/Notify"
 
 #include "osgDB/Registry"
 #include "osgDB/Input"
@@ -26,6 +27,15 @@ bool PagedLOD_readLocalData(Object& obj, Input& fr)
     bool iteratorAdvanced = false;
 
     PagedLOD& lod = static_cast<PagedLOD&>(obj);
+    
+    if (lod.getDatabasePath().empty() && fr.getOptions())
+    {
+        const std::string& path = fr.getOptions()->getDatabasePath();
+        if (!path.empty()) 
+        {
+            lod.setDatabasePath(path);
+        }
+    } 
 
     unsigned int num;
     if (fr[0].matchWord("NumChildrenThatCannotBeExpired") && fr[1].getUInt(num))
diff --git a/src/osgPlugins/osg/ReaderWriterOSG.cpp b/src/osgPlugins/osg/ReaderWriterOSG.cpp
index ffef9db89..ae599ca8a 100644
--- a/src/osgPlugins/osg/ReaderWriterOSG.cpp
+++ b/src/osgPlugins/osg/ReaderWriterOSG.cpp
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 #include <osg/Image>
 #include <osg/Group>
+#include <osg/Notify>
 
 #include <osgDB/FileNameUtils>
 #include <osgDB/FileUtils>
@@ -34,10 +35,20 @@ class OSGReaderWriter : public ReaderWriter
             std::string fileName = osgDB::findDataFile( file );
             if (fileName.empty()) return ReadResult::FILE_NOT_FOUND;
 
+            // code for setting up the database path so that any paged
+            // databases can be automatically located. 
+            osg::ref_ptr<Options> local_opt = const_cast<Options*>(opt);
+            if (!local_opt) local_opt = new Options;
+
+            if (local_opt.valid() && local_opt->getDatabasePath().empty())
+            {
+                local_opt->setDatabasePath(osgDB::getFilePath(fileName));
+            } 
+
             std::ifstream fin(fileName.c_str());
             if (fin)
             {
-                return readNode(fin, opt);
+                return readNode(fin, local_opt.get());
             }
             return 0L;
                         
@@ -49,7 +60,7 @@ class OSGReaderWriter : public ReaderWriter
             Input fr;
             fr.attach(&fin);
             fr.setOptions(options);
-
+            
             typedef std::vector<osg::Node*> NodeList;
             NodeList nodeList;