diff --git a/blog/rsslib.php b/blog/rsslib.php
index 3fea97f3bfc..8e78674ab56 100644
--- a/blog/rsslib.php
+++ b/blog/rsslib.php
@@ -223,9 +223,9 @@ function blog_rss_file_name($type, $id, $tagid=0) {
     global $CFG;
 
     if ($tagid) {
-        return "$CFG->dataroot/cache/rss/blog/$type/$id/$tagid.xml";
+        return "$CFG->cachedir/rss/blog/$type/$id/$tagid.xml";
     } else {
-        return "$CFG->dataroot/cache/rss/blog/$type/$id.xml";
+        return "$CFG->cachedir/rss/blog/$type/$id.xml";
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/config-dist.php b/config-dist.php
index 4ca2b728e02..a35dcb3eb7b 100644
--- a/config-dist.php
+++ b/config-dist.php
@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@ $CFG->admin = 'admin';
 // If $CFG->langstringcache is enabled (which should always be in production
 // environment), Moodle keeps aggregated strings in its own internal format
 // optimised for performance. By default, this on-disk cache is created in
-// $CFG->dataroot/cache/lang. In cluster environment, you may wish to specify
+// $CFG->cachedir/lang. In cluster environment, you may wish to specify
 // an alternative location of this cache so that each web server in the cluster
 // uses its own local cache and does not need to access the shared dataroot.
 // Make sure that the web server process has write permission to this location
diff --git a/lib/db/upgrade.php b/lib/db/upgrade.php
index a4f88097e60..47c35ae354e 100644
--- a/lib/db/upgrade.php
+++ b/lib/db/upgrade.php
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ function xmldb_main_upgrade($oldversion) {
     }
 
     if ($oldversion < 2008030602) {
-        @unlink($CFG->dataroot.'/cache/languages');
+        @unlink($CFG->cachedir.'/languages');
 
         if (file_exists("$CFG->dataroot/lang")) {
             // rename old lang directory so that the new and old langs do not mix
diff --git a/lib/filelib.php b/lib/filelib.php
index c53dd853bd1..02c350150c2 100644
--- a/lib/filelib.php
+++ b/lib/filelib.php
@@ -2935,9 +2935,9 @@ class curl_cache {
     function __construct($module = 'repository'){
         global $CFG;
         if (!empty($module)) {
-            $this->dir = $CFG->dataroot.'/cache/'.$module.'/';
+            $this->dir = $CFG->cachedir.'/'.$module.'/';
         } else {
-            $this->dir = $CFG->dataroot.'/cache/misc/';
+            $this->dir = $CFG->cachedir.'/misc/';
         }
         if (!file_exists($this->dir)) {
             mkdir($this->dir, $CFG->directorypermissions, true);
diff --git a/lib/javascript.php b/lib/javascript.php
index 9e19def5719..02ab49a7f87 100644
--- a/lib/javascript.php
+++ b/lib/javascript.php
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ minify($jsfiles);
 function minify($files) {
     global $CFG;
 
-    $cachedir = $CFG->dataroot.'/cache/js';
+    $cachedir = $CFG->cachedir.'/js';
     // make sure the cache dir exist
     if (!file_exists($cachedir)) {
         @mkdir($cachedir, $CFG->directorypermissions, true);
diff --git a/lib/moodlelib.php b/lib/moodlelib.php
index a5e75b316af..4b46297fabb 100644
--- a/lib/moodlelib.php
+++ b/lib/moodlelib.php
@@ -1370,7 +1370,7 @@ function purge_all_caches() {
     get_string_manager()->reset_caches();
 
     // purge all other caches: rss, simplepie, etc.
-    remove_dir($CFG->dataroot.'/cache', true);
+    remove_dir($CFG->cachedir.'', true);
 
     // make sure cache dir is writable, throws exception if not
     make_upload_directory('cache');
@@ -5685,7 +5685,7 @@ function get_string_manager($forcereload=false) {
         if (empty($CFG->early_install_lang)) {
 
             if (empty($CFG->langcacheroot)) {
-                $langcacheroot = $CFG->dataroot . '/cache/lang';
+                $langcacheroot = $CFG->cachedir . '/lang';
             } else {
                 $langcacheroot = $CFG->langcacheroot;
             }
@@ -5697,7 +5697,7 @@ function get_string_manager($forcereload=false) {
             }
 
             if (empty($CFG->langmenucachefile)) {
-                $langmenucache = $CFG->dataroot . '/cache/languages';
+                $langmenucache = $CFG->cachedir . '/languages';
             } else {
                 $langmenucache = $CFG->langmenucachefile;
             }
diff --git a/lib/outputlib.php b/lib/outputlib.php
index 8712d5ac903..8feae4c83d5 100644
--- a/lib/outputlib.php
+++ b/lib/outputlib.php
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ function theme_reset_all_caches() {
     require_once("$CFG->libdir/filelib.php");
 
     set_config('themerev', empty($CFG->themerev) ? 1 : $CFG->themerev+1);
-    fulldelete("$CFG->dataroot/cache/theme");
+    fulldelete("$CFG->cachedir/theme");
 }
 
 /**
@@ -613,7 +613,7 @@ class theme_config {
             if (!defined('THEME_DESIGNER_CACHE_LIFETIME')) {
                 define('THEME_DESIGNER_CACHE_LIFETIME', 4); // this can be also set in config.php
             }
-            $candidatesheet = "$CFG->dataroot/cache/theme/$this->name/designer.ser";
+            $candidatesheet = "$CFG->cachedir/theme/$this->name/designer.ser";
             if (!file_exists($candidatesheet)) {
                 $css = $this->css_content();
                 check_dir_exists(dirname($candidatesheet));
diff --git a/lib/outputrequirementslib.php b/lib/outputrequirementslib.php
index fb8decbed48..5d9038428e8 100644
--- a/lib/outputrequirementslib.php
+++ b/lib/outputrequirementslib.php
@@ -1213,6 +1213,6 @@ function js_reset_all_caches() {
     require_once("$CFG->libdir/filelib.php");
 
     set_config('jsrev', empty($CFG->jsrev) ? 1 : $CFG->jsrev+1);
-    fulldelete("$CFG->dataroot/cache/js");
+    fulldelete("$CFG->cachedir/js");
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/pdflib.php b/lib/pdflib.php
index 9c036aa386c..7444bc61a81 100644
--- a/lib/pdflib.php
+++ b/lib/pdflib.php
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ define('K_PATH_URL', $CFG->wwwroot . '/lib/tcpdf/');
 define('K_PATH_FONTS', K_PATH_MAIN . 'fonts/');
 
 /** cache directory for temporary files (full path) */
-define('K_PATH_CACHE', $CFG->dataroot . '/cache/');
+define('K_PATH_CACHE', $CFG->cachedir . '/');
 
 /** images directory */
 define('K_PATH_IMAGES', $CFG->dirroot . '/');
diff --git a/lib/rsslib.php b/lib/rsslib.php
index 15dd6eb2832..5fb1bb19d29 100644
--- a/lib/rsslib.php
+++ b/lib/rsslib.php
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ function rss_print_link($contextid, $userid, $componentname, $id, $tooltiptext='
 function rss_delete_file($componentname, $instance) {
     global $CFG;
 
-    $dirpath = "$CFG->dataroot/cache/rss/$componentname";
+    $dirpath = "$CFG->cachedir/rss/$componentname";
     if (is_dir($dirpath)) {
         $dh  = opendir($dirpath);
         while (false !== ($filename = readdir($dh))) {
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ function rss_save_file($componentname, $filename, $contents, $expandfilename=tru
 
 function rss_get_file_full_name($componentname, $filename) {
     global $CFG;
-    return "$CFG->dataroot/cache/rss/$componentname/$filename.xml";
+    return "$CFG->cachedir/rss/$componentname/$filename.xml";
 }
 
 function rss_get_file_name($instance, $sql) {
diff --git a/lib/simplepie/moodle_simplepie.php b/lib/simplepie/moodle_simplepie.php
index c6e1f6dafca..54e2d07ee3f 100644
--- a/lib/simplepie/moodle_simplepie.php
+++ b/lib/simplepie/moodle_simplepie.php
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ class moodle_simplepie extends SimplePie
     private static function get_cache_directory() {
         global $CFG;
 
-        return $CFG->dataroot.'/cache/simplepie/';
+        return $CFG->cachedir.'/simplepie/';
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/lib/weblib.php b/lib/weblib.php
index d314ef249a1..fb51289efee 100644
--- a/lib/weblib.php
+++ b/lib/weblib.php
@@ -1187,7 +1187,7 @@ function reset_text_filters_cache() {
     global $CFG, $DB;
 
     $DB->delete_records('cache_text');
-    $purifdir = $CFG->dataroot.'/cache/htmlpurifier';
+    $purifdir = $CFG->cachedir.'/htmlpurifier';
     remove_dir($purifdir, true);
 }
 
@@ -1514,7 +1514,7 @@ function purify_html($text, $options = array()) {
     if (empty($purifiers[$type])) {
 
         // make sure the serializer dir exists, it should be fine if it disappears later during cache reset
-        $cachedir = $CFG->dataroot.'/cache/htmlpurifier';
+        $cachedir = $CFG->cachedir.'/htmlpurifier';
         check_dir_exists($cachedir);
 
         require_once $CFG->libdir.'/htmlpurifier/HTMLPurifier.safe-includes.php';
diff --git a/theme/image.php b/theme/image.php
index cac1765bd22..e00f5592f7f 100644
--- a/theme/image.php
+++ b/theme/image.php
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ if (file_exists("$CFG->dirroot/theme/$themename/config.php")) {
     image_not_found();
 }
 
-$candidatelocation = "$CFG->dataroot/cache/theme/$themename/pix/$component";
+$candidatelocation = "$CFG->cachedir/theme/$themename/pix/$component";
 
 if ($rev > -1) {
     if (file_exists("$candidatelocation/$image.error")) {
diff --git a/theme/javascript.php b/theme/javascript.php
index 9b359a1f97a..6e8a79d785b 100644
--- a/theme/javascript.php
+++ b/theme/javascript.php
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ if (file_exists("$CFG->dirroot/theme/$themename/config.php")) {
     die('Theme was not found, sorry.');
 }
 
-$candidate = "$CFG->dataroot/cache/theme/$themename/javascript_$type.js";
+$candidate = "$CFG->cachedir/theme/$themename/javascript_$type.js";
 
 if ($rev > -1 and file_exists($candidate)) {
     if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_IF_NONE_MATCH']) || !empty($_SERVER['HTTP_IF_MODIFIED_SINCE'])) {
diff --git a/theme/styles.php b/theme/styles.php
index ce6ada05da9..6fcde59e1b6 100644
--- a/theme/styles.php
+++ b/theme/styles.php
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ if ($type === 'ie') {
     send_ie_css($themename, $rev);
 }
 
-$candidatesheet = "$CFG->dataroot/cache/theme/$themename/css/$type.css";
+$candidatesheet = "$CFG->cachedir/theme/$themename/css/$type.css";
 
 if (file_exists($candidatesheet)) {
     if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTP_IF_NONE_MATCH']) || !empty($_SERVER['HTTP_IF_MODIFIED_SINCE'])) {
@@ -97,11 +97,11 @@ if ($type === 'editor') {
                 $cssfiles[] = $val;
             }
         }
-        $cssfile = "$CFG->dataroot/cache/theme/$themename/css/$key.css";
+        $cssfile = "$CFG->cachedir/theme/$themename/css/$key.css";
         store_css($theme, $cssfile, $cssfiles);
         $allfiles = array_merge($allfiles, $cssfiles);
     }
-    $cssfile = "$CFG->dataroot/cache/theme/$themename/css/all.css";
+    $cssfile = "$CFG->cachedir/theme/$themename/css/all.css";
     store_css($theme, $cssfile, $allfiles);
 }
 send_cached_css($candidatesheet, $rev);
diff --git a/theme/styles_debug.php b/theme/styles_debug.php
index 25a50e6a9b2..67277bc7262 100644
--- a/theme/styles_debug.php
+++ b/theme/styles_debug.php
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ if (file_exists("$CFG->dirroot/theme/$themename/config.php")) {
 
 // no gzip compression when debugging
 
-$candidatesheet = "$CFG->dataroot/cache/theme/$themename/designer.ser";
+$candidatesheet = "$CFG->cachedir/theme/$themename/designer.ser";
 
 if (!file_exists($candidatesheet)) {
     css_not_found();