diff --git a/lib/NewsStats.pm b/lib/NewsStats.pm
index a68e36d..3653a71 100644
--- a/lib/NewsStats.pm
+++ b/lib/NewsStats.pm
@@ -101,6 +101,8 @@ sub ReadConfig {
   my ($ConfFile) = @_;
   # set default
   $ConfFile = $HomePath . '/etc/newsstats.conf' if !$ConfFile;
+  # add default path if none is set
+  $ConfFile = $HomePath . '/etc/' . $ConfFile if ($ConfFile !~ /[\\\/]/);
   # mandatory configuration options
   my @Mandatory = ('DBDriver','DBHost','DBUser','DBPw','DBDatabase',
                    'DBTableRaw','DBTableGrps');