diff --git a/i18n/si/msgs.jaml b/i18n/si/msgs.jaml
index ff037cc6..ff13f181 100644
--- a/i18n/si/msgs.jaml
+++ b/i18n/si/msgs.jaml
@@ -2436,7 +2436,6 @@ help/manager.py:
         data: false
         URL: false
         DEVELOP_ROOT: false
-        .: false
     def `create_intersphinx_provider`:
         objects.inv: false
         Local doc root '%s' does not exist.: false
@@ -3515,11 +3514,19 @@ utils/pkgmeta.py:
     parse_meta: false
     get_dist_meta: false
     get_distribution: false
+    develop_root: false
+    get_dist_url: false
     def `normalize_name`:
         [-_.]+: false
         -: false
         _: false
-    def `is_develop_egg`:
+    def `_direct_url`:
+        direct_url.json: false
+    def `develop_root`:
+        dir_info: false
+        editable: false
+        url: false
+        file: false
         {normalize_name(dist.name)}.egg-info/: false
         setup.py: false
     def `trim`:
diff --git a/orangecanvas/help/manager.py b/orangecanvas/help/manager.py
index 7db9227a..a0d80bd7 100644
--- a/orangecanvas/help/manager.py
+++ b/orangecanvas/help/manager.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 
 from AnyQt.QtCore import QObject, QUrl, QDir
 
-from ..utils.pkgmeta import get_dist_url, is_develop_egg, get_distribution
+from ..utils.pkgmeta import get_dist_url, get_distribution, develop_root
 from . import provider
 
 if typing.TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -154,8 +154,8 @@ def _replacements_for_dist(dist):
     except KeyError:
         pass
 
-    if is_develop_egg(dist):
-        replacements["DEVELOP_ROOT"] = str(dist.locate_file("."))
+    if develop_root(dist) is not None:
+        replacements["DEVELOP_ROOT"] = develop_root(dist)
 
     return replacements
 
diff --git a/orangecanvas/utils/pkgmeta.py b/orangecanvas/utils/pkgmeta.py
index e49e1d0f..c7f9dc34 100644
--- a/orangecanvas/utils/pkgmeta.py
+++ b/orangecanvas/utils/pkgmeta.py
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
 import os
 import sys
 import re
+import json
 import email
 from operator import itemgetter
+from urllib.parse import urlparse
+from urllib.request import url2pathname
 from typing import List, Dict, Optional, Union, cast
 
 import packaging.version
@@ -16,7 +20,7 @@
 __all__ = [
     "Distribution", "EntryPoint", "entry_points", "normalize_name", "trim",
     "trim_leading_lines", "trim_trailing_lines", "parse_meta", "get_dist_meta",
-    "get_distribution"
+    "get_distribution", "develop_root", "get_dist_url"
 ]
 
 
@@ -27,13 +31,43 @@ def normalize_name(name: str) -> str:
     return re.sub(r"[-_.]+", "-", name).lower().replace('-', '_')
 
 
-def is_develop_egg(dist: Distribution) -> bool:
+def _direct_url(dist: Distribution) -> dict | None:
     """
-    Is the distribution installed in development mode (setup.py develop)
+    Return PEP-0610 direct_url dict.
     """
+    direct_url_content = dist.read_text("direct_url.json")
+    if direct_url_content:
+        try:
+            return json.loads(direct_url_content)
+        except (json.JSONDecodeError, UnicodeDecodeError):
+            return None
+    return None
+
+
+def develop_root(dist: Distribution) -> str | None:
+    """
+    Return the distribution's editable root path if applicable (pip install -e).
+    """
+    direct_url = _direct_url(dist)
+    if direct_url is not None and direct_url.get("dir_info", {}).get("editable", False):
+        url = direct_url.get("url", None)
+        if url is not None:
+            url = urlparse(url)
+            if url.scheme == "file":
+                return url2pathname(url.path)
+
     egg_info_dir = dist.locate_file(f"{normalize_name(dist.name)}.egg-info/")
     setup = dist.locate_file("setup.py")
-    return os.path.isdir(egg_info_dir) and os.path.isfile(setup)
+    if os.path.isdir(egg_info_dir) and os.path.isfile(setup):
+        return os.path.dirname(setup)
+    return None
+
+
+def is_develop_egg(dist: Distribution) -> bool:
+    """
+    Is the distribution installed in development mode (setup.py develop)
+    """
+    return develop_root(dist) is not None
 
 
 def left_trim_lines(lines: List[str]) -> List[str]:
diff --git a/orangecanvas/utils/tests/test_pkgmeta.py b/orangecanvas/utils/tests/test_pkgmeta.py
index 52610150..65bbccf3 100644
--- a/orangecanvas/utils/tests/test_pkgmeta.py
+++ b/orangecanvas/utils/tests/test_pkgmeta.py
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
+import os
 from unittest import TestCase
 
 from orangecanvas.utils.pkgmeta import (
     Distribution, normalize_name, is_develop_egg, get_dist_meta, parse_meta,
-    trim,
+    trim, develop_root,
 )
 
 
@@ -20,6 +21,20 @@ def test_is_develop_egg(self):
         else:
             is_develop_egg(d)
 
+    def test_develop_root(self):
+        d = Distribution.from_name("AnyQt")
+        path = develop_root(d)
+        if path is not None:
+            self.assertTrue(os.path.isfile(d.locate_file("setup.py")))
+        try:
+            d = Distribution.from_name("orange-canvas-core")
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+        else:
+            path = develop_root(d)
+            if path is not None:
+                self.assertTrue(os.path.isfile(d.locate_file("setup.py")))
+
     def test_get_dist_meta(self):
         d = Distribution.from_name("AnyQt")
         meta = get_dist_meta(d)