--- a/src/common/rclconfig.h
+++ b/src/common/rclconfig.h
@@ -257,6 +257,11 @@
 	call it after primary init */
     void initThrConf();
 
+    const string& getOrigCwd() 
+    {
+	return o_origcwd;
+    }
+
     ~RclConfig() {
 	freeAll();
     }
@@ -302,6 +307,10 @@
     ParamStale   m_skpnstate;
     vector<string> m_skpnlist;
 
+    // Original current working directory. Set once at init before we do any
+    // chdir'ing and used for converting user args to absolute paths.
+    static string o_origcwd;
+
     // Parameters auto-fetched on setkeydir
     string m_defcharset;
     static string o_localecharset;