diff --git a/node/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/node/NodeCmdLineOptions.kt b/node/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/node/NodeCmdLineOptions.kt
index d530ae4d41..0674cf757f 100644
--- a/node/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/node/NodeCmdLineOptions.kt
+++ b/node/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/node/NodeCmdLineOptions.kt
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ open class SharedNodeCmdLineOptions {
             description = ["The path to the config file. By default this is node.conf in the base directory."]
     )
     private var _configFile: Path? = null
-    val configFile: Path get() = _configFile ?: (baseDirectory / "node.conf")
+    val configFile: Path get() = if (_configFile != null) baseDirectory.resolve(_configFile) else (baseDirectory / "node.conf")
 
     @Option(
             names = ["--on-unknown-config-keys"],
diff --git a/node/src/test/kotlin/net/corda/node/internal/NodeStartupCliTest.kt b/node/src/test/kotlin/net/corda/node/internal/NodeStartupCliTest.kt
index 119729ac76..1ebcbf93fb 100644
--- a/node/src/test/kotlin/net/corda/node/internal/NodeStartupCliTest.kt
+++ b/node/src/test/kotlin/net/corda/node/internal/NodeStartupCliTest.kt
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ class NodeStartupCliTest {
 
     companion object {
         private lateinit var workingDirectory: Path
-
+        private var customNodeConf = "custom_node.conf"
         @BeforeClass
         @JvmStatic
         fun initDirectories() {
@@ -56,6 +56,18 @@ class NodeStartupCliTest {
         Assertions.assertThat(startup.cmdLineOptions.networkRootTrustStorePathParameter).isEqualTo(null)
     }
 
+    @Test(timeout=300_000)
+    fun `--nodeconf using relative path will be changed to absolute path`() {
+        CommandLine.populateCommand(startup, CommonCliConstants.CONFIG_FILE, customNodeConf)
+        Assertions.assertThat(startup.cmdLineOptions.configFile).isEqualTo(workingDirectory / customNodeConf)
+    }
+
+    @Test(timeout=300_000)
+    fun `--nodeconf using absolute path will not be changed`() {
+        CommandLine.populateCommand(startup, CommonCliConstants.CONFIG_FILE, "/$customNodeConf")
+        Assertions.assertThat(startup.cmdLineOptions.configFile).isEqualTo( "/" / customNodeConf)
+    }
+
     @Test(timeout=3_000)
     @Ignore
     fun `test logs are written to correct location correctly if verbose flag set`() {
diff --git a/tools/cliutils/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/cliutils/CordaCliWrapper.kt b/tools/cliutils/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/cliutils/CordaCliWrapper.kt
index ce4d01ce3e..8bb9cb6432 100644
--- a/tools/cliutils/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/cliutils/CordaCliWrapper.kt
+++ b/tools/cliutils/src/main/kotlin/net/corda/cliutils/CordaCliWrapper.kt
@@ -211,6 +211,7 @@ fun printError(message: String) = System.err.println("${ShellConstants.RED}$mess
  */
 object CommonCliConstants {
     const val BASE_DIR = "--base-directory"
+    const val CONFIG_FILE = "--config-file"
 }
 
 /**