diff --git a/plugins/space_type_purl.inc b/plugins/space_type_purl.inc
index 2dbd432..f362c2e 100644
--- a/plugins/space_type_purl.inc
+++ b/plugins/space_type_purl.inc
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@ class space_type_purl extends space_type {
    * Return an array of paths from which the space should never be active.
    */
   protected function excluded_paths() {
-    return array('features', 'features/*', 'admin', 'admin/*');
+    return variable_get('spaces_purl_excluded_paths_override',
+      "features\nfeatures/*\nadmin\nadmin/*");
   }
 
   /**
@@ -42,8 +43,7 @@ class space_type_purl extends space_type {
     // certain corner case badness, e.g. a stale $_GET['q'] set for the site
     // space triggering an excluded path check.
     $activated = parent::activate();
-    $paths = implode("\n", $this->excluded_paths());
-    if (drupal_match_path($_GET['q'], $paths)) {
+    if (drupal_match_path($_GET['q'], $this->excluded_paths())) {
       $this->deactivate();
       return FALSE;
     }
diff --git a/spaces.install b/spaces.install
index 7663e6e..d76eedb 100644
--- a/spaces.install
+++ b/spaces.install
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ function spaces_install() {
  */
 function spaces_uninstall() {
   drupal_uninstall_schema('spaces');
+  variable_del('spaces_purl_excluded_paths_override');
 }
 
 /**