diff --git a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/TestCases/PdbGen/ForLoopTests.xml b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/TestCases/PdbGen/ForLoopTests.xml
index ad3e3b093..492f58104 100644
--- a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/TestCases/PdbGen/ForLoopTests.xml
+++ b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/TestCases/PdbGen/ForLoopTests.xml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <symbols>
   <files>
-    <file id="1" name="ICSharpCode\Decompiler\Tests\TestCases\PdbGen\ForLoopTests.cs" language="C#" checksumAlgorithm="SHA256"><![CDATA[using System;
+    <file id="1" name="ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests.TestCases.PdbGen\ForLoopTests.cs" language="C#" checksumAlgorithm="SHA256"><![CDATA[using System;
 
 namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests.TestCases.PdbGen;
 
diff --git a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/TestCases/PdbGen/HelloWorld.xml b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/TestCases/PdbGen/HelloWorld.xml
index 687ff0c6d..90f2d542b 100644
--- a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/TestCases/PdbGen/HelloWorld.xml
+++ b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/TestCases/PdbGen/HelloWorld.xml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <symbols>
   <files>
-    <file id="1" name="ICSharpCode\Decompiler\Tests\TestCases\PdbGen\HelloWorld.cs" language="C#" checksumAlgorithm="SHA256"><![CDATA[using System;
+    <file id="1" name="ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests.TestCases.PdbGen\HelloWorld.cs" language="C#" checksumAlgorithm="SHA256"><![CDATA[using System;
 
 namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests.TestCases.PdbGen;
 
diff --git a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/TestCases/PdbGen/LambdaCapturing.xml b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/TestCases/PdbGen/LambdaCapturing.xml
index 2f95d9ba2..ac478edb0 100644
--- a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/TestCases/PdbGen/LambdaCapturing.xml
+++ b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/TestCases/PdbGen/LambdaCapturing.xml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <symbols>
   <files>
-    <file id="1" name="ICSharpCode\Decompiler\Tests\TestCases\PdbGen\LambdaCapturing.cs" language="C#" checksumAlgorithm="SHA256"><![CDATA[using System;
+    <file id="1" name="ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests.TestCases.PdbGen\LambdaCapturing.cs" language="C#" checksumAlgorithm="SHA256"><![CDATA[using System;
 
 namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests.TestCases.PdbGen;
 
diff --git a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/CSharp/ProjectDecompiler/WholeProjectDecompiler.cs b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/CSharp/ProjectDecompiler/WholeProjectDecompiler.cs
index 1862dae39..af6ef06ad 100644
--- a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/CSharp/ProjectDecompiler/WholeProjectDecompiler.cs
+++ b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/CSharp/ProjectDecompiler/WholeProjectDecompiler.cs
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp.ProjectDecompiler
 					}
 					else
 					{
-						string dir = CleanUpDirectoryName(ns);
+						string dir = Settings.UseNestedDirectoriesForNamespaces ? CleanUpPath(ns) : CleanUpDirectoryName(ns);
 						if (directories.Add(dir))
 							Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.Combine(TargetDirectory, dir));
 						return Path.Combine(dir, file);
@@ -368,6 +368,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp.ProjectDecompiler
 			// That is, a full name of the form "Namespace1.Namespace2{...}.NamespaceN.ResourceName" is split such that
 			// the directory part Namespace1\Namespace2\... reuses as many existing directories as
 			// possible, and only the remaining name parts are used as prefix for the filename.
+			// This is not affected by the UseNestedDirectoriesForNamespaces setting.
 			string[] splitName = fullName.Split(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);
 			string fileName = string.Join(".", splitName);
 			string separator = Path.DirectorySeparatorChar.ToString();
@@ -682,6 +683,11 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp.ProjectDecompiler
 		/// Cleans up a node name for use as a directory name.
 		/// </summary>
 		public static string CleanUpDirectoryName(string text)
+		{
+			return CleanUpName(text, separateAtDots: false, treatAsFileName: false);
+		}
+
+		public static string CleanUpPath(string text)
 		{
 			return CleanUpName(text, separateAtDots: true, treatAsFileName: false)
 				.Replace('.', Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);
diff --git a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/DebugInfo/PortablePdbWriter.cs b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/DebugInfo/PortablePdbWriter.cs
index 23223a805..ba010a45d 100644
--- a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/DebugInfo/PortablePdbWriter.cs
+++ b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/DebugInfo/PortablePdbWriter.cs
@@ -66,7 +66,10 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.DebugInfo
 			string BuildFileNameFromTypeName(TypeDefinitionHandle handle)
 			{
 				var typeName = handle.GetFullTypeName(reader).TopLevelTypeName;
-				return Path.Combine(WholeProjectDecompiler.CleanUpDirectoryName(typeName.Namespace), WholeProjectDecompiler.CleanUpFileName(typeName.Name) + ".cs");
+				string ns = settings.UseNestedDirectoriesForNamespaces
+					? WholeProjectDecompiler.CleanUpPath(typeName.Namespace)
+					: WholeProjectDecompiler.CleanUpDirectoryName(typeName.Namespace);
+				return Path.Combine(ns, WholeProjectDecompiler.CleanUpFileName(typeName.Name) + ".cs");
 			}
 
 			foreach (var sourceFile in reader.GetTopLevelTypeDefinitions().GroupBy(BuildFileNameFromTypeName))
diff --git a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/DecompilerSettings.cs b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/DecompilerSettings.cs
index d76921cac..b7888ad30 100644
--- a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/DecompilerSettings.cs
+++ b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/DecompilerSettings.cs
@@ -1777,7 +1777,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler
 		/// Gets or sets a value indicating whether the new SDK style format
 		/// shall be used for the generated project files.
 		/// </summary>
-		[Category("DecompilerSettings.Other")]
+		[Category("DecompilerSettings.ProjectExport")]
 		[Description("DecompilerSettings.UseSdkStyleProjectFormat")]
 		public bool UseSdkStyleProjectFormat {
 			get { return useSdkStyleProjectFormat; }
@@ -1790,6 +1790,25 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler
 			}
 		}
 
+		bool useNestedDirectoriesForNamespaces;
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Gets/sets whether namespaces and namespace-like identifiers should be split at '.'
+		/// and each part should produce a new level of nesting in the output directory structure. 
+		/// </summary>
+		[Category("DecompilerSettings.ProjectExport")]
+		[Description("DecompilerSettings.UseNestedDirectoriesForNamespaces")]
+		public bool UseNestedDirectoriesForNamespaces {
+			get { return useNestedDirectoriesForNamespaces; }
+			set {
+				if (useNestedDirectoriesForNamespaces != value)
+				{
+					useNestedDirectoriesForNamespaces = value;
+					OnPropertyChanged();
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
 		bool aggressiveScalarReplacementOfAggregates = false;
 
 		[Category("DecompilerSettings.Other")]
diff --git a/ILSpy/Options/MiscSettingsPanel.xaml b/ILSpy/Options/MiscSettingsPanel.xaml
index ab5a84a8e..09a9c5485 100644
--- a/ILSpy/Options/MiscSettingsPanel.xaml
+++ b/ILSpy/Options/MiscSettingsPanel.xaml
@@ -6,9 +6,13 @@
 			 xmlns:properties="clr-namespace:ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Properties"
 			 mc:Ignorable="d" 
              d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="300">
-	<StackPanel Margin="10">
-		<CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding AllowMultipleInstances}" Content="{x:Static properties:Resources.AllowMultipleInstances}" />
-		<CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding LoadPreviousAssemblies}" Content="{x:Static properties:Resources.LoadAssembliesThatWereLoadedInTheLastInstance}"/>
-		<Button Command="{Binding AddRemoveShellIntegrationCommand}" Content="{Binding AddRemoveShellIntegrationText}" Margin="3" />
+	<StackPanel Orientation="Vertical">
+		<GroupBox Header="{x:Static properties:Resources.Misc}">
+			<StackPanel Margin="10">
+				<CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding AllowMultipleInstances}" Content="{x:Static properties:Resources.AllowMultipleInstances}" />
+				<CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding LoadPreviousAssemblies}" Content="{x:Static properties:Resources.LoadAssembliesThatWereLoadedInTheLastInstance}"/>
+				<Button Command="{Binding AddRemoveShellIntegrationCommand}" Content="{Binding AddRemoveShellIntegrationText}" Margin="3" />
+			</StackPanel>
+		</GroupBox>
 	</StackPanel>
 </UserControl>
diff --git a/ILSpy/Options/MiscSettingsPanel.xaml.cs b/ILSpy/Options/MiscSettingsPanel.xaml.cs
index 1297ed74c..56e492747 100644
--- a/ILSpy/Options/MiscSettingsPanel.xaml.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/Options/MiscSettingsPanel.xaml.cs
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Options
 		{
 			XElement e = settings["MiscSettings"];
 			var s = new MiscSettings();
-			s.AllowMultipleInstances = (bool?)e.Attribute("AllowMultipleInstances") ?? false;
+			s.AllowMultipleInstances = (bool?)e.Attribute(nameof(s.AllowMultipleInstances)) ?? false;
 			s.LoadPreviousAssemblies = (bool?)e.Attribute(nameof(s.LoadPreviousAssemblies)) ?? true;
 
 			return s;
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Options
 			var s = (MiscSettings)this.DataContext;
 
 			var section = new XElement("MiscSettings");
-			section.SetAttributeValue("AllowMultipleInstances", s.AllowMultipleInstances);
+			section.SetAttributeValue(nameof(s.AllowMultipleInstances), s.AllowMultipleInstances);
 			section.SetAttributeValue(nameof(s.LoadPreviousAssemblies), s.LoadPreviousAssemblies);
 
 			XElement existingElement = root.Element("MiscSettings");
diff --git a/ILSpy/Properties/Resources.Designer.cs b/ILSpy/Properties/Resources.Designer.cs
index 1fdc2e2cf..f71bb45da 100644
--- a/ILSpy/Properties/Resources.Designer.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/Properties/Resources.Designer.cs
@@ -1127,6 +1127,15 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Properties {
             }
         }
         
+        /// <summary>
+        ///   Looks up a localized string similar to Project export.
+        /// </summary>
+        public static string DecompilerSettings_ProjectExport {
+            get {
+                return ResourceManager.GetString("DecompilerSettings.ProjectExport", resourceCulture);
+            }
+        }
+        
         /// <summary>
         ///   Looks up a localized string similar to Ranges.
         /// </summary>
@@ -1316,6 +1325,15 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Properties {
             }
         }
         
+        /// <summary>
+        ///   Looks up a localized string similar to Use nested directories for namespaces.
+        /// </summary>
+        public static string DecompilerSettings_UseNestedDirectoriesForNamespaces {
+            get {
+                return ResourceManager.GetString("DecompilerSettings.UseNestedDirectoriesForNamespaces", resourceCulture);
+            }
+        }
+        
         /// <summary>
         ///   Looks up a localized string similar to Use non-trailing named arguments.
         /// </summary>
@@ -2002,7 +2020,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Properties {
         }
         
         /// <summary>
-        ///   Looks up a localized string similar to You can change this by toggling the setting at Options &gt; Decompiler &gt; Other &gt; Use new SDK style format for generated project files (*.csproj)..
+        ///   Looks up a localized string similar to You can change this by toggling the setting at Options &gt; Decompiler &gt; Project export &gt; Use new SDK style format for generated project files (*.csproj)..
         /// </summary>
         public static string ProjectExportFormatChangeSettingHint {
             get {
@@ -2029,9 +2047,11 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Properties {
         }
         
         /// <summary>
-        ///   Looks up a localized string similar to Failed to decompile the assemblies {0} because the namespace directory structure is nested too deep.
+        ///   Looks up a localized string similar to Failed to decompile the assemblies {0} because the namespace names are too long or the directory structure is nested too deep.
+        ///
+        ///If you are using Windows 10.0.14393 (Windows 10 version 1607) or later, you can enable &quot;Long path support&quot; by creating a REG_DWORD registry key named &quot;LongPathsEnabled&quot; with value 0x1 at &quot;HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem&quot; (see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/fileio/maximum-file-path-limitation for more information).
         ///
-        ///If you are using Windows 10.0.14393 (Windows 10 version 1607) or later, you can enable &quot;Long path support&quot; by creating a REG_DWORD registry key named &quot;LongPathsEnabled&quot; with value 0x1 at &quot;HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem&quot; (see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/fileio/maximum-file-path-limitation for more information)..
+        ///If this does not [rest of string was truncated]&quot;;.
         /// </summary>
         public static string ProjectExportPathTooLong {
             get {
diff --git a/ILSpy/Properties/Resources.resx b/ILSpy/Properties/Resources.resx
index b01f6a5ba..f25eaff3c 100644
--- a/ILSpy/Properties/Resources.resx
+++ b/ILSpy/Properties/Resources.resx
@@ -399,6 +399,9 @@ Are you sure you want to continue?</value>
   <data name="DecompilerSettings.PatternMatching" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Use pattern matching expressions</value>
   </data>
+  <data name="DecompilerSettings.ProjectExport" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Project export</value>
+  </data>
   <data name="DecompilerSettings.Ranges" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Ranges</value>
   </data>
@@ -462,6 +465,9 @@ Are you sure you want to continue?</value>
   <data name="DecompilerSettings.UseNamedArguments" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Use named arguments</value>
   </data>
+  <data name="DecompilerSettings.UseNestedDirectoriesForNamespaces" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>Use nested directories for namespaces</value>
+  </data>
   <data name="DecompilerSettings.UseNonTrailingNamedArguments" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>Use non-trailing named arguments</value>
   </data>
@@ -689,7 +695,7 @@ Please disable all filters that might hide the item (i.e. activate "View &gt; Sh
     <value>Portable PDB|*.pdb|All files|*.*</value>
   </data>
   <data name="ProjectExportFormatChangeSettingHint" xml:space="preserve">
-    <value>You can change this by toggling the setting at Options &gt; Decompiler &gt; Other &gt; Use new SDK style format for generated project files (*.csproj).</value>
+    <value>You can change this by toggling the setting at Options &gt; Decompiler &gt; Project export &gt; Use new SDK style format for generated project files (*.csproj).</value>
   </data>
   <data name="ProjectExportFormatNonSDKHint" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>A Non-SDK project was generated. Learn more at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/resources/check-project-format.</value>
@@ -698,9 +704,11 @@ Please disable all filters that might hide the item (i.e. activate "View &gt; Sh
     <value>A SDK-style project was generated. Learn more at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/resources/check-project-format.</value>
   </data>
   <data name="ProjectExportPathTooLong" xml:space="preserve">
-    <value>Failed to decompile the assemblies {0} because the namespace directory structure is nested too deep.
+    <value>Failed to decompile the assemblies {0} because the namespace names are too long or the directory structure is nested too deep.
+
+If you are using Windows 10.0.14393 (Windows 10 version 1607) or later, you can enable "Long path support" by creating a REG_DWORD registry key named "LongPathsEnabled" with value 0x1 at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem" (see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/fileio/maximum-file-path-limitation for more information).
 
-If you are using Windows 10.0.14393 (Windows 10 version 1607) or later, you can enable "Long path support" by creating a REG_DWORD registry key named "LongPathsEnabled" with value 0x1 at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem" (see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/fileio/maximum-file-path-limitation for more information).</value>
+If this does not solve the problem and your system supports long paths, you can try to use a nested path structure. You can change this by toggling the setting at Options &gt; Decompiler &gt; Project export &gt; Use nested directories for namespaces. This helps because even on "long-path-aware" platforms, the length of a directory name is limited, on Windows/NTFS this is 255 characters.</value>
   </data>
   <data name="PropertyManuallyMissingReferencesListLoadedAssemblies" xml:space="preserve">
     <value>for ex. property getter/setter access. To get optimal decompilation results, please manually add the missing references to the list of loaded assemblies.</value>