diff --git a/gnu/local.mk b/gnu/local.mk
index 07a7a0f527..5fcbdd4586 100644
--- a/gnu/local.mk
+++ b/gnu/local.mk
@@ -1843,6 +1843,7 @@ dist_patch_DATA =						\
   %D%/packages/patches/scheme48-tests.patch			\
   %D%/packages/patches/scons-test-environment.patch		\
   %D%/packages/patches/screen-hurd-path-max.patch		\
+  %D%/packages/patches/scsh-nonstring-search-path.patch	\
   %D%/packages/patches/sdl-libx11-1.6.patch			\
   %D%/packages/patches/seed-webkit.patch			\
   %D%/packages/patches/sendgmail-accept-ignored-gsuite-flag.patch	\
diff --git a/gnu/packages/patches/scsh-nonstring-search-path.patch b/gnu/packages/patches/scsh-nonstring-search-path.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3934d49fa3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gnu/packages/patches/scsh-nonstring-search-path.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+This patch was submitted upstream:
+https://github.com/scheme/scsh/pull/46
+
+diff --git a/scheme/lib-dirs.scm b/scheme/lib-dirs.scm
+index a1fc009..c630fb4 100644
+--- a/scheme/lib-dirs.scm
++++ b/scheme/lib-dirs.scm
+@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@
+               (let ((val (read)))
+                 (cond ((eof-object? val) '())
+                       ((string? val) (cons val (recur)))
++                      ((symbol? val) (cons (symbol->string val) (recur)))
+                       ((not val) (append default-lib-dirs (recur)))
+                       (else 
+                        (error 
diff --git a/gnu/packages/shells.scm b/gnu/packages/shells.scm
index 128e557a21..0c8cbf3f4c 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/shells.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/shells.scm
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 ;;; Copyright © 2019, 2020 Jan (janneke) Nieuwenhuizen <janneke@gnu.org>
 ;;; Copyright © 2020 Brice Waegeneire <brice@waegenei.re>
 ;;; Copyright © 2020 Ryan Prior <rprior@protonmail.com>
-;;; Copyright © 2020 Efraim Flashner <efraim@flashner.co.il>
+;;; Copyright © 2020, 2022 Efraim Flashner <efraim@flashner.co.il>
 ;;; Copyright © 2020, 2022 Marius Bakke <marius@gnu.org>
 ;;; Copyright © 2021, 2022 Nicolas Goaziou <mail@nicolasgoaziou.fr>
 ;;; Copyright © 2021, 2022 Felix Gruber <felgru@posteo.net>
@@ -612,7 +612,8 @@ (define-public scsh
          (file-name (string-append name "-" version "-checkout"))
          (sha256
           (base32
-           "1ghk08akiz7hff1pndi8rmgamgcrn2mv9asbss9l79d3c2iaav3q"))))
+           "1ghk08akiz7hff1pndi8rmgamgcrn2mv9asbss9l79d3c2iaav3q"))
+         (patches (search-patches "scsh-nonstring-search-path.patch"))))
       (build-system gnu-build-system)
       (arguments
        `(#:test-target "test"
@@ -631,6 +632,11 @@ (define-public scsh
        (list scheme48 scheme48-rx))
       (native-inputs
        (list autoconf automake))
+      (native-search-paths
+       (list (search-path-specification
+               (variable "SCSH_LIB_DIRS")
+               (separator " ")
+               (files '("share/scsh-0.7")))))
       (home-page "https://github.com/scheme/scsh")
       (synopsis "Unix shell embedded in Scheme")
       (description