diff --git a/backend/invoke_ai_web_server.py b/backend/invoke_ai_web_server.py
index 6229f9c45a..efdc932eef 100644
--- a/backend/invoke_ai_web_server.py
+++ b/backend/invoke_ai_web_server.py
@@ -20,11 +20,12 @@ from ldm.invoke.prompt_parser import split_weighted_subprompts
 
 from backend.modules.parameters import parameters_to_command
 
-
 # Loading Arguments
 opt = Args()
 args = opt.parse_args()
 
+# Set the root directory for static files and relative paths
+args.root_dir = os.path.expanduser(args.root_dir or '..')
 if not os.path.isabs(args.outdir):
     args.outdir=os.path.join(args.root_dir,args.outdir)
 
@@ -64,6 +65,7 @@ class InvokeAIWebServer:
         if opt.cors:
             socketio_args["cors_allowed_origins"] = opt.cors
 
+        print(f'DEBUG: static_folder should be at {os.path.join(args.root_dir,"frontend/dist")}')
         self.app = Flask(
             __name__, static_url_path="", static_folder=os.path.join(args.root_dir,"frontend/dist")
         )
diff --git a/scripts/load_models.py b/scripts/load_models.py
index 25be2dc0d7..51a0d492c4 100755
--- a/scripts/load_models.py
+++ b/scripts/load_models.py
@@ -590,11 +590,13 @@ def get_root(root:str=None)->str:
     with open(init_file, 'r') as infile:
         lines = infile.readlines()
         for l in lines:
+            if re.search('\s*#',l): # ignore comments
+                continue
             match = re.search('--root\s*=?\s*"?([^"]+)"?',l)
             if match:
                 root = match.groups()[0]
-
-    return root.strip() or '.'
+    root = root or '.'
+    return root.strip()
 
 #-------------------------------------
 def initialize_rootdir(root:str):
@@ -675,7 +677,9 @@ def main():
     try:
         introduction()
 
-        # We check for this specific file, without which we are toast...
+        # We check for two files to see if the runtime directory is correctly initialized.
+        # 1. a key stable diffusion config file
+        # 2. the web front end static files
         if not os.path.exists(os.path.join(Globals.root,'configs/stable-diffusion/v1-inference.yaml')) \
            or not os.path.exists(os.path.join(Globals.root,'frontend/dist')):
             initialize_rootdir(Globals.root)