diff --git a/libs/ardour/ardour/route.h b/libs/ardour/ardour/route.h
index b63cbb9147..0ef063b29c 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/ardour/route.h
+++ b/libs/ardour/ardour/route.h
@@ -714,6 +714,8 @@ class LIBARDOUR_API Route : public SessionObject, public Automatable, public Rou
 	void setup_invisible_processors ();
 	void unpan ();
 
+	void set_plugin_state_dir (boost::weak_ptr<Processor>, const std::string&);
+
 	boost::shared_ptr<CapturingProcessor> _capturing_processor;
 
 	/** A handy class to keep processor state while we attempt a reconfiguration
diff --git a/libs/ardour/ardour/session.h b/libs/ardour/ardour/session.h
index 6a73e85663..a5b93af041 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/ardour/session.h
+++ b/libs/ardour/ardour/session.h
@@ -1839,6 +1839,8 @@ class LIBARDOUR_API Session : public PBD::StatefulDestructible, public PBD::Scop
 
 	static int get_session_info_from_path (XMLTree& state_tree, const std::string& xmlpath);
 	static const uint32_t session_end_shift;
+
+	std::string _template_state_dir;
 };
 
 
diff --git a/libs/ardour/lv2_plugin.cc b/libs/ardour/lv2_plugin.cc
index 3753bd8066..9c52bb255e 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/lv2_plugin.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/lv2_plugin.cc
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@
 #include "ardour/debug.h"
 #include "ardour/lv2_plugin.h"
 #include "ardour/session.h"
-#include "ardour/template_utils.h"
 #include "ardour/tempo.h"
 #include "ardour/types.h"
 #include "ardour/utils.h"
@@ -1744,10 +1743,7 @@ LV2Plugin::set_state(const XMLNode& node, int version)
 	}
 
 	if ((prop = node.property("template-dir")) != 0) {
-		// portable templates, strip absolute path
-		set_state_dir (Glib::build_filename (
-					ARDOUR::user_route_template_directory (),
-					Glib::path_get_basename (prop->value ())));
+		set_state_dir (prop->value ());
 	}
 
 	_state_version = 0;
diff --git a/libs/ardour/route.cc b/libs/ardour/route.cc
index e24919a3b3..3027019bff 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/route.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/route.cc
@@ -2253,6 +2253,11 @@ Route::get_template()
 XMLNode&
 Route::state(bool full_state)
 {
+	if (!_session._template_state_dir.empty()) {
+		assert (!full_state); // only for templates
+		foreach_processor (sigc::bind (sigc::mem_fun (*this, &Route::set_plugin_state_dir), _session._template_state_dir));
+	}
+
 	XMLNode *node = new XMLNode("Route");
 	ProcessorList::iterator i;
 	char buf[32];
@@ -2347,6 +2352,10 @@ Route::state(bool full_state)
 		}
 	}
 
+	if (!_session._template_state_dir.empty()) {
+		foreach_processor (sigc::bind (sigc::mem_fun (*this, &Route::set_plugin_state_dir), ""));
+	}
+
 	return *node;
 }
 
@@ -4154,42 +4163,30 @@ Route::shift (framepos_t pos, framecnt_t frames)
 	}
 }
 
+void
+Route::set_plugin_state_dir (boost::weak_ptr<Processor> p, const std::string& d)
+{
+	boost::shared_ptr<Processor> processor (p.lock ());
+	boost::shared_ptr<PluginInsert> pi  = boost::dynamic_pointer_cast<PluginInsert> (processor);
+	if (!pi) {
+		return;
+	}
+	pi->set_state_dir (d);
+}
 
 int
 Route::save_as_template (const string& path, const string& name)
 {
-	{
-		// would be nice to use foreach_processor()
-		Glib::Threads::RWLock::ReaderLock lm (_processor_lock);
-		std::string state_dir = path.substr (0, path.find_last_of ('.')); // strip template_suffix
-		for (ProcessorList::const_iterator i = _processors.begin(); i != _processors.end(); ++i) {
-			boost::shared_ptr<PluginInsert> pi  = boost::dynamic_pointer_cast<PluginInsert> (*i);
-			if (pi) {
-				pi->set_state_dir (state_dir);
-			}
-		}
-	}
+	std::string state_dir = path.substr (0, path.find_last_of ('.')); // strip template_suffix
+	PBD::Unwinder<std::string> uw (_session._template_state_dir, state_dir);
 
 	XMLNode& node (state (false));
 
-	{
-		Glib::Threads::RWLock::ReaderLock lm (_processor_lock);
-		for (ProcessorList::const_iterator i = _processors.begin(); i != _processors.end(); ++i) {
-			boost::shared_ptr<PluginInsert> pi  = boost::dynamic_pointer_cast<PluginInsert> (*i);
-			if (pi) {
-				pi->set_state_dir ();
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
 	XMLTree tree;
 
 	IO::set_name_in_state (*node.children().front(), name);
 
 	tree.set_root (&node);
-	// TODO: special case LV2 plugin state
-	// copy of serialize it. Alternatively:
-	// create a plugin-preset (which can be loaded separately)
 
 	/* return zero on success, non-zero otherwise */
 	return !tree.write (path.c_str());
diff --git a/libs/ardour/session_state.cc b/libs/ardour/session_state.cc
index c440b77895..bde7208867 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/session_state.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/session_state.cc
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@
 #include "pbd/stacktrace.h"
 #include "pbd/convert.h"
 #include "pbd/localtime_r.h"
+#include "pbd/unwind.h"
 
 #include "ardour/amp.h"
 #include "ardour/async_midi_port.h"
@@ -2161,25 +2162,16 @@ Session::save_template (string template_name, bool replace_existing)
 
 	XMLTree tree;
 
-	tree.set_root (&get_template());
+	{
+		PBD::Unwinder<std::string> uw (_template_state_dir, template_dir_path);
+		tree.set_root (&get_template());
+	}
+
 	if (!tree.write (template_file_path)) {
 		error << _("template not saved") << endmsg;
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	if (!ARDOUR::Profile->get_trx()) {
-		/* copy plugin state directory */
-
-		std::string template_plugin_state_path (Glib::build_filename (template_dir_path, X_("plugins")));
-
-		if (g_mkdir_with_parents (template_plugin_state_path.c_str(), 0755) != 0) {
-			error << string_compose(_("Could not create directory for Session template plugin state\"%1\" (%2)"),
-									template_plugin_state_path, g_strerror (errno)) << endmsg;
-			return -1;
-		}
-		copy_files (plugins_dir(), template_plugin_state_path);
-	}
-
 	store_recent_templates (template_file_path);
 
 	return 0;