diff --git a/ldm/invoke/args.py b/ldm/invoke/args.py
index c5b1987924..4d5ea7b5cc 100644
--- a/ldm/invoke/args.py
+++ b/ldm/invoke/args.py
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ class Args(object):
             sysargs = sys.argv[1:]
             # pre-parse to get the root directory; ignore the rest
             switches = self._arg_parser.parse_args(sysargs)
-            Globals.root = switches.root_dir or Globals.root
+            Globals.root = os.path.abspath(switches.root_dir or Globals.root)
 
             # now use root directory to find the init file
             initfile = os.path.expanduser(os.path.join(Globals.root,Globals.initfile))
diff --git a/ldm/invoke/globals.py b/ldm/invoke/globals.py
index 2e9f9f14bd..c97ae1494e 100644
--- a/ldm/invoke/globals.py
+++ b/ldm/invoke/globals.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ from argparse import Namespace
 Globals = Namespace()
 
 # This is usually overwritten by the command line and/or environment variables
-Globals.root = os.environ.get('INVOKEAI_ROOT') or os.path.expanduser('~/invokeai')
+Globals.root = os.path.abspath(os.environ.get('INVOKEAI_ROOT') or os.path.expanduser('~/invokeai'))
 
 # Where to look for the initialization file
 Globals.initfile = 'invokeai.init'