diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/keg.rb b/Library/Homebrew/keg.rb
index 04d1be8e19..a17972d768 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/keg.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/keg.rb
@@ -108,6 +108,8 @@ class Keg < Pathname
     share_mkpaths = %w[aclocal doc info locale man]
     share_mkpaths.concat((1..8).map { |i| "man/man#{i}" })
     share_mkpaths.concat((1..8).map { |i| "man/cat#{i}" })
+    # Paths used by Gnome Desktop support
+    share_mkpaths.concat %w[applications icons pixmaps sounds]
 
     # yeah indeed, you have to force anything you need in the main tree into
     # these dirs REMEMBER that *NOT* everything needs to be in the main tree
@@ -122,6 +124,9 @@ class Keg < Pathname
       when INFOFILE_RX then ENV['HOMEBREW_KEEP_INFO'] ? :info : :skip_file
       when LOCALEDIR_RX then :mkpath
       when *share_mkpaths then :mkpath
+      when /^icons\/.*\/icon-theme\.cache$/ then :skip_file
+      # all icons subfolders should also mkpath
+      when /^icons\// then :mkpath
       when /^zsh/ then :mkpath
       else :link
       end