diff --git a/git-cvsexportcommit.perl b/git-cvsexportcommit.perl
index d2e50c3429..2a8ad1e9f4 100755
--- a/git-cvsexportcommit.perl
+++ b/git-cvsexportcommit.perl
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use Getopt::Std;
 use File::Temp qw(tempdir);
 use Data::Dumper;
 use File::Basename qw(basename dirname);
+use File::Spec;
 
 our ($opt_h, $opt_P, $opt_p, $opt_v, $opt_c, $opt_f, $opt_a, $opt_m, $opt_d, $opt_u, $opt_w);
 
@@ -15,17 +16,15 @@ $opt_h && usage();
 die "Need at least one commit identifier!" unless @ARGV;
 
 if ($opt_w) {
+	# Remember where GIT_DIR is before changing to CVS checkout
 	unless ($ENV{GIT_DIR}) {
-		# Remember where our GIT_DIR is before changing to CVS checkout
+		# No GIT_DIR set. Figure it out for ourselves
 		my $gd =`git-rev-parse --git-dir`;
 		chomp($gd);
-		if ($gd eq '.git') {
-			my $wd = `pwd`;
-			chomp($wd);
-			$gd = $wd."/.git"	;
-		}
 		$ENV{GIT_DIR} = $gd;
 	}
+	# Make sure GIT_DIR is absolute
+	$ENV{GIT_DIR} = File::Spec->rel2abs($ENV{GIT_DIR});
 
 	if (! -d $opt_w."/CVS" ) {
 		die "$opt_w is not a CVS checkout";
diff --git a/t/t9200-git-cvsexportcommit.sh b/t/t9200-git-cvsexportcommit.sh
index 7e25a392a1..49d57a81ec 100755
--- a/t/t9200-git-cvsexportcommit.sh
+++ b/t/t9200-git-cvsexportcommit.sh
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ test_expect_success \
 	;;
 esac
 
-test_expect_failure '-w option should work with relative GIT_DIR' '
+test_expect_success '-w option should work with relative GIT_DIR' '
       mkdir W &&
       echo foobar >W/file1.txt &&
       echo bazzle >W/file2.txt &&