diff --git a/config/vufind/httpd-vufind.conf b/config/vufind/httpd-vufind.conf
index ddbb03a287824c630bafcf56dc6a3a9fc1da8cfe..c79d6d3dba8dc88f4aaf107a44bd461cd33c79dd 100644
--- a/config/vufind/httpd-vufind.conf
+++ b/config/vufind/httpd-vufind.conf
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ Alias /vufind /usr/local/vufind/public
   # encounter unexpected side effects -- while this directory may be outside of the
   # local settings directory, there should be exactly one separate cache location per
   # local settings directory.
+  # If you adjust this, be sure to change the public cache AliasMatch above to match.
   #SetEnv VUFIND_CACHE_DIR /usr/local/vufind/local/cache
 
   # This line specifies additional Zend Framework 2 modules to load after the standard VuFind module.
diff --git a/module/VuFindTheme/src/VuFindTheme/View/Helper/ConcatTrait.php b/module/VuFindTheme/src/VuFindTheme/View/Helper/ConcatTrait.php
index db948a36f30879645efd1d41731f4f5010583a50..1934722c4426206a451663b73be1252a8b1d98e1 100644
--- a/module/VuFindTheme/src/VuFindTheme/View/Helper/ConcatTrait.php
+++ b/module/VuFindTheme/src/VuFindTheme/View/Helper/ConcatTrait.php
@@ -192,7 +192,12 @@ trait ConcatTrait
      */
     protected function getResourceCacheDir()
     {
-        return $this->themeInfo->getBaseDir() . '/../local/cache/public/';
+        if (!defined('LOCAL_CACHE_DIR')) {
+            throw new \Exception(
+                'Asset pipeline feature depends on the LOCAL_CACHE_DIR constant.'
+            );
+        }
+        return LOCAL_CACHE_DIR . '/public/';
     }
 
     /**
@@ -291,8 +296,13 @@ trait ConcatTrait
     protected function isPipelineActive()
     {
         if ($this->usePipeline) {
-            $cacheDir = $this->getResourceCacheDir();
-            if (!is_writable($cacheDir)) {
+            try {
+                $cacheDir = $this->getResourceCacheDir();
+            } catch (\Exception $e) {
+                $this->usePipeline = $cacheDir = false;
+                error_log($e->getMessage());
+            }
+            if ($cacheDir && !is_writable($cacheDir)) {
                 $this->usePipeline = false;
                 error_log("Cannot write to $cacheDir; disabling asset pipeline.");
             }