diff --git a/doc/release-notes.md b/doc/release-notes.md
--- a/doc/release-notes.md
+++ b/doc/release-notes.md
@@ -11,3 +11,10 @@
 the RPC commands `walletcreatefundedpsbt` and  `fundrawtransaction` will now fail
 instead of rounding down the fee. Beware that the `feeRate` argument is specified
 in BCH per kilobyte, not satoshi per byte.
+
+Seeder
+------
+
+- Added the `datadir` option to the seeder allowing a directory to be
+  specified for the files the seeder writes to and reads from (default is the
+  `~/.bitcoin/seeder` directory).  See help for more details.
diff --git a/src/seeder/main.cpp b/src/seeder/main.cpp
--- a/src/seeder/main.cpp
+++ b/src/seeder/main.cpp
@@ -96,6 +96,36 @@
         ipv6_proxy = gArgs.GetArg("-proxyipv6", DEFAULT_IPV6_PROXY);
         SelectParams(gArgs.GetChainName());
 
+        if (!gArgs.IsArgSet("-datadir")) {
+            fs::path path = GetDefaultDataDir() / "seeder";
+            gArgs.ForceSetArg("-datadir", path.string());
+            fs::create_directories(path);
+        }
+
+        if (!CheckDataDirOption()) {
+            tfm::format(std::cerr,
+                        "Specified data directory \"%s\" does not exist.\n",
+                        gArgs.GetArg("-datadir", ""));
+            return EXIT_FAILURE;
+        }
+
+        // Warn about relative -datadir path
+        if (gArgs.IsArgSet("-datadir") &&
+            !fs::path(gArgs.GetArg("-datadir", "")).is_absolute()) {
+            tfm::format(
+                std::cout,
+                "Warning: relative datadir option '%s' specified, which will "
+                "be interpreted relative to the current working directory "
+                "'%s'. This is fragile, because if the seeder is started in "
+                "the future from a different location, it will be unable to "
+                "locate the current data files.\n",
+                gArgs.GetArg("-datadir", ""), fs::current_path().string());
+        }
+        tfm::format(std::cout, "Default data directory %s\n",
+                    GetDefaultDataDir().string() + "/seeder");
+        tfm::format(std::cout, "Using data directory %s\n",
+                    GetDataDir().string());
+
         if (gArgs.IsArgSet("-filter")) {
             // Parse whitelist additions
             std::string flagString = gArgs.GetArg("-filter", "");
@@ -156,6 +186,10 @@
         gArgs.AddArg("-help-debug",
                      "Show all debugging options (usage: --help -help-debug)",
                      ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::DEBUG_TEST);
+        gArgs.AddArg(
+            "-datadir=<dir>",
+            "Specifies the directory that the seeder reads from and writes to.",
+            ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY, OptionsCategory::OPTIONS);
         SetupChainParamsBaseOptions();
 
         gArgs.AddArg("-help", "", ArgsManager::ALLOW_ANY,
@@ -384,15 +418,16 @@
         {
             std::vector<CAddrReport> v = db.GetAll();
             sort(v.begin(), v.end(), StatCompare);
-            FILE *f = fsbridge::fopen("dnsseed.dat.new", "w+");
+            FILE *f = fsbridge::fopen(GetDataDir() / "dnsseed.dat.new", "w+");
             if (f) {
                 {
                     CAutoFile cf(f, SER_DISK, CLIENT_VERSION);
                     cf << db;
                 }
-                rename("dnsseed.dat.new", "dnsseed.dat");
+                rename(GetDataDir() / "dnsseed.dat.new",
+                       GetDataDir() / "dnsseed.dat");
             }
-            fsbridge::ofstream d{"dnsseed.dump"};
+            fsbridge::ofstream d{GetDataDir() / "dnsseed.dump"};
             tfm::format(
                 d, "# address                                        good  "
                    "lastSuccess    %%(2h)   %%(8h)   %%(1d)   %%(7d)  "
@@ -415,7 +450,8 @@
                 stat[3] += rep.uptime[3];
                 stat[4] += rep.uptime[4];
             }
-            fsbridge::ofstream ff{"dnsstats.log", std::ios_base::app};
+            fsbridge::ofstream ff{GetDataDir() / "dnsstats.log",
+                                  std::ios_base::app};
             tfm::format(ff, "%llu %g %g %g %g %g\n",
                         (unsigned long long)(time(nullptr)), stat[0], stat[1],
                         stat[2], stat[3], stat[4]);
@@ -536,7 +572,8 @@
         tfm::format(std::cerr, "No e-mail address set. Please use -m.\n");
         return EXIT_FAILURE;
     }
-    FILE *f = fsbridge::fopen("dnsseed.dat", "r");
+
+    FILE *f = fsbridge::fopen(GetDataDir() / "dnsseed.dat", "r");
     if (f) {
         tfm::format(std::cout, "Loading dnsseed.dat...");
         CAutoFile cf(f, SER_DISK, CLIENT_VERSION);