diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.automation.groovyscripting/src/main/java/org/openhab/automation/groovyscripting/internal/GroovyScriptEngineFactory.java b/bundles/org.openhab.automation.groovyscripting/src/main/java/org/openhab/automation/groovyscripting/internal/GroovyScriptEngineFactory.java
index 5c005581f9e..c1e58a4f7a9 100644
--- a/bundles/org.openhab.automation.groovyscripting/src/main/java/org/openhab/automation/groovyscripting/internal/GroovyScriptEngineFactory.java
+++ b/bundles/org.openhab.automation.groovyscripting/src/main/java/org/openhab/automation/groovyscripting/internal/GroovyScriptEngineFactory.java
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
  */
 package org.openhab.automation.groovyscripting.internal;
 
+import java.io.File;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
@@ -20,10 +21,13 @@ import javax.script.ScriptEngine;
 
 import org.eclipse.jdt.annotation.NonNullByDefault;
 import org.eclipse.jdt.annotation.Nullable;
+import org.openhab.core.OpenHAB;
 import org.openhab.core.automation.module.script.AbstractScriptEngineFactory;
 import org.openhab.core.automation.module.script.ScriptEngineFactory;
 import org.osgi.service.component.annotations.Component;
 
+import groovy.lang.GroovyClassLoader;
+
 /**
  * This is an implementation of a {@link ScriptEngineFactory} for Groovy.
  *
@@ -33,12 +37,21 @@ import org.osgi.service.component.annotations.Component;
 @NonNullByDefault
 public class GroovyScriptEngineFactory extends AbstractScriptEngineFactory {
 
+    private static final String FILE_DIRECTORY = "automation" + File.separator + "groovy";
     private final org.codehaus.groovy.jsr223.GroovyScriptEngineFactory factory = new org.codehaus.groovy.jsr223.GroovyScriptEngineFactory();
 
     private final List<String> scriptTypes = (List<String>) Stream.of(factory.getExtensions(), factory.getMimeTypes())
             .flatMap(List::stream) //
             .collect(Collectors.toUnmodifiableList());
 
+    private final GroovyClassLoader gcl = new GroovyClassLoader();
+
+    public GroovyScriptEngineFactory() {
+        String scriptDir = OpenHAB.getConfigFolder() + File.separator + FILE_DIRECTORY;
+        logger.debug("Adding script directory {} to the GroovyScriptEngine class path.", scriptDir);
+        gcl.addClasspath(scriptDir);
+    }
+
     @Override
     public List<String> getScriptTypes() {
         return scriptTypes;
@@ -46,6 +59,9 @@ public class GroovyScriptEngineFactory extends AbstractScriptEngineFactory {
 
     @Override
     public @Nullable ScriptEngine createScriptEngine(String scriptType) {
-        return scriptTypes.contains(scriptType) ? factory.getScriptEngine() : null;
+        if (scriptTypes.contains(scriptType)) {
+            return new org.codehaus.groovy.jsr223.GroovyScriptEngineImpl(gcl);
+        }
+        return null;
     }
 }