diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/predic8/membrane/core/openapi/serviceproxy/OpenAPIRecordFactory.java b/core/src/main/java/com/predic8/membrane/core/openapi/serviceproxy/OpenAPIRecordFactory.java
index 079c2e6ab7..c2a4567e79 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/predic8/membrane/core/openapi/serviceproxy/OpenAPIRecordFactory.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/predic8/membrane/core/openapi/serviceproxy/OpenAPIRecordFactory.java
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ private boolean toYesNo(OpenAPISpec.YesNoOpenAPIOption option) {
     }
 
     private File[] getOpenAPIFiles(String directoryName) {
-        File dir = new File(directoryName);
+        File dir = new File(pathFromFileURI(resolve(directoryName)));
         if (!dir.exists() || !dir.isDirectory()) {
             throw new ConfigurationException(format("Cannot open directory %s. Please check the OpenAPI configuration of your API.", dir.getAbsolutePath()));
         }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/com/predic8/membrane/core/openapi/serviceproxy/OpenAPIRecordFactoryTest.java b/core/src/test/java/com/predic8/membrane/core/openapi/serviceproxy/OpenAPIRecordFactoryTest.java
index c1de2b4abc..28b27d6807 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/com/predic8/membrane/core/openapi/serviceproxy/OpenAPIRecordFactoryTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/com/predic8/membrane/core/openapi/serviceproxy/OpenAPIRecordFactoryTest.java
@@ -123,6 +123,18 @@ void referencesDepth() {
         assertNotNull(getMail(rec));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void readsDirectoryRelativeToBaseLocation() {
+        OpenAPISpec spec = new OpenAPISpec();
+        spec.setDir("paths");
+
+        Map<String, OpenAPIRecord> recs = factory.create(singletonList(spec));
+
+        assertEquals(3, recs.size());
+        assertTrue(recs.containsKey("api-b-path-foo-v1-0"));
+        assertTrue(recs.keySet().stream().anyMatch(id -> id.startsWith("api-a-path-foo-v1-0")));
+    }
+
     @Test
     void getUniqueIdNoCollision() {
         assertEquals("customers-api-v1-0", factory.getUniqueId(new HashMap<>(), new OpenAPIRecord(getApi(this, "/openapi/specs/customers.yml"), null)));
@@ -134,4 +146,4 @@ void getUniqueIdCollision() {
         recs.put("customers-api-v1-0", new OpenAPIRecord());
         assertEquals("customers-api-v1-0-0", factory.getUniqueId(recs, new OpenAPIRecord(getApi(this, "/openapi/specs/customers.yml"), null)));
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}