diff --git a/ckan/config/environment.py b/ckan/config/environment.py
index 47751d095a7..74a2a01e4cd 100644
--- a/ckan/config/environment.py
+++ b/ckan/config/environment.py
@@ -142,6 +142,10 @@ def find_controller(self, controller):
                           'ckan.site_id for SOLR search-index rebuild to work.'
         config['ckan.site_id'] = ckan_host
 
+    # ensure that a favicon has been set
+    favicon = config.get('ckan.favicon', '/images/icons/ckan.ico')
+    config['ckan.favicon'] = favicon
+
     # Init SOLR settings and check if the schema is compatible
     #from ckan.lib.search import SolrSettings, check_solr_schema_version
     search.SolrSettings.init(config.get('solr_url'),
diff --git a/ckan/config/routing.py b/ckan/config/routing.py
index fc01216ec4e..02eb3a3d92c 100644
--- a/ckan/config/routing.py
+++ b/ckan/config/routing.py
@@ -316,6 +316,9 @@ def make_map():
     for plugin in routing_plugins:
         map = plugin.after_map(map)
 
+    # sometimes we get requests for favicon.ico we should redirect to
+    # the real favicon location.
+    map.redirect('/favicon.ico', config.get('ckan.favicon'))
 
     map.redirect('/*(url)/', '/{url}',
                  _redirect_code='301 Moved Permanently')
diff --git a/ckan/templates/base.html b/ckan/templates/base.html
index 7e15f119db1..b1a892f7e81 100644
--- a/ckan/templates/base.html
+++ b/ckan/templates/base.html
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
      <title py:with="title = list(select('title/text()'))">
        <py:if test="title">${title} - </py:if>CKAN
      </title>
-     <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/base/images/ckan.ico" />
+     <link rel="shortcut icon" href="${config.get('ckan.favicon')}" />
      <link rel="stylesheet/less" href="/base/less/main.less" />
      <script src="/base/test/vendor/less.js"></script>
      ${select('*[local-name()!="title"]')}