diff --git a/usr.sbin/pw/pw.c b/usr.sbin/pw/pw.c
index 5f02a151365..4f92034a5d2 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pw/pw.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/pw/pw.c
@@ -162,7 +162,8 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 					PWF._altdir = PWF_ROOTDIR;
 				}
 				snprintf(conf.etcpath, sizeof(conf.etcpath),
-				    "%s%s", optarg, arg == 'R' ? "/etc" : "");
+				    "%s%s", optarg, arg == 'R' ?
+				    _PATH_PWD : "");
 			} else
 				break;
 		}
diff --git a/usr.sbin/pw/pw.h b/usr.sbin/pw/pw.h
index d5e2c600079..1e09722a907 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pw/pw.h
+++ b/usr.sbin/pw/pw.h
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@ enum _which
 
 #define	_DEF_DIRMODE	(S_IRWXU | S_IRWXG | S_IRWXO)
 #define	_PW_CONF	"pw.conf"
-#define _PATH_PW_CONF	"/etc/pw.conf"
 #define _UC_MAXLINE	1024
 #define _UC_MAXSHELLS	32
 
diff --git a/usr.sbin/pw/pw_conf.c b/usr.sbin/pw/pw_conf.c
index f7b98f188f7..9dff3fe03ef 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pw/pw_conf.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/pw/pw_conf.c
@@ -255,9 +255,6 @@ read_userconfig(char const * file)
 	buf = NULL;
 	linecap = 0;
 
-	if (file == NULL)
-		file = _PATH_PW_CONF;
-
 	if ((fp = fopen(file, "r")) == NULL)
 		return (&config);