diff --git a/src/sdl/i_system.cpp b/src/sdl/i_system.cpp
index 925812325..995edc626 100644
--- a/src/sdl/i_system.cpp
+++ b/src/sdl/i_system.cpp
@@ -1294,6 +1294,18 @@ void I_InitJoystick(UINT8 index)
 	if (M_CheckParm("-nojoy"))
 		return;
 
+	{
+		char dbpath[1024];
+		sprintf(dbpath, "%s" PATHSEP "gamecontrollerdb.txt", srb2path);
+		SDL_GameControllerAddMappingsFromFile(dbpath);
+	}
+
+	{
+		char dbpath[1024];
+		sprintf(dbpath, "%s" PATHSEP "gamecontrollerdb_user.txt", srb2home);
+		SDL_GameControllerAddMappingsFromFile(dbpath);
+	}
+
 	if (M_CheckParm("-noxinput"))
 		SDL_SetHintWithPriority("SDL_XINPUT_ENABLED", "0", SDL_HINT_OVERRIDE);