diff --git a/tempest/config.py b/tempest/config.py
index b2bc931..8f9edb2 100644
--- a/tempest/config.py
+++ b/tempest/config.py
@@ -1306,9 +1306,7 @@
 class TempestConfigPrivate(object):
     """Provides OpenStack configuration information."""
 
-    DEFAULT_CONFIG_DIR = os.path.join(
-        os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__))),
-        "etc")
+    DEFAULT_CONFIG_DIR = os.path.join(os.getcwd(), "etc")
 
     DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE = "tempest.conf"