diff --git a/src/node/utils/Settings.js b/src/node/utils/Settings.js
index 8b17a6d3..c455617b 100644
--- a/src/node/utils/Settings.js
+++ b/src/node/utils/Settings.js
@@ -177,8 +177,13 @@ exports.abiwordAvailable = function()
 exports.reloadSettings = function reloadSettings() {
   // Discover where the settings file lives
   var settingsFilename = argv.settings || "settings.json";
-  settingsFilename = path.resolve(path.join(exports.root, settingsFilename));
 
+  if (path.resolve(settingsFilename)===settingsFilename) {
+    settingsFilename = path.resolve(settingsFilename);
+  } else {
+    settingsFilename = path.resolve(path.join(exports.root, settingsFilename));
+  }
+  
   var settingsStr;
   try{
     //read the settings sync