1 files changed, 11 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/src/mailman/bin/mailman.py b/src/mailman/bin/mailman.py
index 2a230b49f..b9d792d4d 100644
--- a/src/mailman/bin/mailman.py
+++ b/src/mailman/bin/mailman.py
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ __all__ = [
 import os
 import argparse
 
+from os.path import abspath, expanduser
+
 from zope.interface.verify import verifyObject
 
 from mailman.app.finder import find_components
@@ -37,6 +39,12 @@ from mailman.interfaces.command import ICLISubCommand
 from mailman.version import MAILMAN_VERSION_FULL
 
 
+def _absolute_path(path):
+    """Return the absolute after the user expansion.
+    """
+    return abspath(expanduser(path))
+
+
 
 def main():
     """bin/mailman"""
@@ -94,7 +102,9 @@ def main():
     # Mailman system, and in particular, we must read the configuration file.
     config_file = os.getenv('MAILMAN_CONFIG_FILE')
     if config_file is None:
-        config_file = args.config
+        if args.config is not None:
+            config_file = _absolute_path(args.config)
+
     initialize(config_file)
     # Perform the subcommand option.
     args.func(args)