diff --git a/lib/file-finder.js b/lib/file-finder.js
index d78126c8366..45594057000 100644
--- a/lib/file-finder.js
+++ b/lib/file-finder.js
@@ -88,7 +88,9 @@ FileFinder.prototype.findAllInDirectoryAndParents = function(directory) {
         j,
         searched;
 
-    if (!directory) {
+    if (directory) {
+        directory = path.resolve(this.cwd, directory);
+    } else {
         directory = this.cwd;
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/config-hierarchy/root-true/parent/root/subdir/.eslintrc b/tests/fixtures/config-hierarchy/root-true/parent/root/subdir/.eslintrc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e69de29bb2d
diff --git a/tests/lib/cli-engine.js b/tests/lib/cli-engine.js
index 99178fdd0f0..c1571dd1f84 100644
--- a/tests/lib/cli-engine.js
+++ b/tests/lib/cli-engine.js
@@ -1995,6 +1995,25 @@ describe("CLIEngine", function() {
 
         });
 
+
+        it("should return the config when run from within a subdir", function() {
+
+            var engine = new CLIEngine({
+                cwd: getFixturePath("config-hierarchy", "root-true", "parent", "root", "subdir")
+            });
+
+            var configHelper = new Config(engine.options);
+
+            var filePath = getFixturePath("config-hierarchy", "root-true", "parent", "root", ".eslintrc");
+            var config = engine.getConfigForFile("./.eslintrc");
+
+            assert.deepEqual(
+                config,
+                configHelper.getConfig(filePath)
+            );
+
+        });
+
     });
 
     describe("isPathIgnored", function() {
diff --git a/tests/lib/config.js b/tests/lib/config.js
index 51a71ada8ab..a1053c07c08 100644
--- a/tests/lib/config.js
+++ b/tests/lib/config.js
@@ -480,6 +480,20 @@ describe("Config", function() {
             assertConfigsEqual(actual, expected);
         });
 
+        // Project configuration - root set in second level .eslintrc
+        it("should return project config when called with a relative path from a subdir", function() {
+            var configHelper = new Config({cwd: getFixturePath("root-true", "parent", "root", "subdir")}),
+                dir = ".",
+                expected = {
+                    rules: {
+                        semi: [2, "never"]
+                    }
+                },
+                actual = configHelper.getConfig(dir);
+
+            assertConfigsEqual(actual, expected);
+        });
+
         // Command line configuration - --config with first level .eslintrc
         it("should merge command line config when config file adds to local .eslintrc", function() {
 
diff --git a/tests/lib/file-finder.js b/tests/lib/file-finder.js
index a838cf00af1..319854b7acc 100644
--- a/tests/lib/file-finder.js
+++ b/tests/lib/file-finder.js
@@ -55,6 +55,18 @@ describe("FileFinder", function() {
             });
         });
 
+        describe("a relative file present in a parent directory", function() {
+
+            it("should be found, and returned as the first element of an array", function() {
+                finder = new FileFinder(uniqueFileName, subsubdir);
+                actual = finder.findAllInDirectoryAndParents("./subsubsubdir");
+                expected = path.join(fileFinderDir, "subdir", uniqueFileName);
+
+                assert.isArray(actual);
+                assert.equal(actual[0], expected);
+            });
+        });
+
         describe("searching for multiple files", function() {
 
             it("should return only the first specified file", function() {