--- vtk-5.4.2.orig/Wrapping/Python/vtkPythonAppInit.cxx
+++ vtk-5.4.2/Wrapping/Python/vtkPythonAppInit.cxx
@@ -277,6 +277,7 @@
     // packages in sys.path himself/herself.
     const char* inst_dirs[] = {
       "/lib/python" VTK_PYTHON_VERSION "/site-packages/vtk", // UNIX --prefix
+      "/lib/python" VTK_PYTHON_VERSION "/dist-packages/vtk", // Debian package prefix
       "/lib/python/vtk", // UNIX --home
       "/Lib/site-packages/vtk", "/Lib/vtk", // Windows
       "/site-packages/vtk", "/vtk", // Windows