diff --git a/plugins/inputs/nvidia_smi/README.md b/plugins/inputs/nvidia_smi/README.md
index c889e016f..479634d7b 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/nvidia_smi/README.md
+++ b/plugins/inputs/nvidia_smi/README.md
@@ -7,13 +7,19 @@ This plugin uses a query on the [`nvidia-smi`](https://developer.nvidia.com/nvid
 ```toml
 # Pulls statistics from nvidia GPUs attached to the host
 [[inputs.nvidia_smi]]
-  ## Optional: path to nvidia-smi binary, defaults to $PATH via exec.LookPath
+  ## Optional: path to nvidia-smi binary, defaults "/usr/bin/nvidia-smi"
+  ## We will first try to locate the nvidia-smi binary with the explicitly specified value (or default value), 
+  ## if it is not found, we will try to locate it on PATH(exec.LookPath), if it is still not found, an error will be returned
   # bin_path = "/usr/bin/nvidia-smi"
 
   ## Optional: timeout for GPU polling
   # timeout = "5s"
 ```
 
+#### Linux
+
+On Linux, `nvidia-smi` is generally located at `/usr/bin/nvidia-smi`
+
 #### Windows
 
 On Windows, `nvidia-smi` is generally located at `C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\NVSMI\nvidia-smi.exe`
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/nvidia_smi/nvidia_smi.go b/plugins/inputs/nvidia_smi/nvidia_smi.go
index 3e4fb03f0..68f25ba42 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/nvidia_smi/nvidia_smi.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/nvidia_smi/nvidia_smi.go
@@ -31,7 +31,9 @@ func (smi *NvidiaSMI) Description() string {
 // SampleConfig returns the sample configuration for the NvidiaSMI plugin
 func (smi *NvidiaSMI) SampleConfig() string {
 	return `
-  ## Optional: path to nvidia-smi binary, defaults to $PATH via exec.LookPath
+  ## Optional: path to nvidia-smi binary, defaults "/usr/bin/nvidia-smi"
+  ## We will first try to locate the nvidia-smi binary with the explicitly specified value (or default value), 
+  ## if it is not found, we will try to locate it on PATH(exec.LookPath), if it is still not found, an error will be returned
   # bin_path = "/usr/bin/nvidia-smi"
 
   ## Optional: timeout for GPU polling
@@ -39,12 +41,21 @@ func (smi *NvidiaSMI) SampleConfig() string {
 `
 }
 
-// Gather implements the telegraf interface
-func (smi *NvidiaSMI) Gather(acc telegraf.Accumulator) error {
+func (smi *NvidiaSMI) Init() error {
 	if _, err := os.Stat(smi.BinPath); os.IsNotExist(err) {
-		return fmt.Errorf("nvidia-smi binary not at path %s, cannot gather GPU data", smi.BinPath)
+		binPath, err := exec.LookPath("nvidia-smi")
+		// fail-fast
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("nvidia-smi not found in %q and not in PATH; please make sure nvidia-smi is installed and/or is in PATH", smi.BinPath)
+		}
+		smi.BinPath = binPath
 	}
 
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Gather implements the telegraf interface
+func (smi *NvidiaSMI) Gather(acc telegraf.Accumulator) error {
 	data, err := smi.pollSMI()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err