--- a/src/netxx/serverbase.cxx
+++ b/src/netxx/serverbase.cxx
@@ -89,6 +89,20 @@
     sockets_size_ = addr.size();
     sockets_ = new Socket[sockets_size_];
 
+    std::string cwd;
+#   if !defined(PATH_MAX) && defined(__GLIBC__)
+    char *buffer = ::get_current_dir_name();
+    if (buffer) {
+	cwd = buffer;
+	free(buffer);
+    }
+#   else
+    char buffer[PATH_MAX];
+    if (getcwd(buffer, sizeof(buffer))) {
+        cwd = buffer;
+    }
+#   endif
+
     /*
      * now that we have an array of sockets we need to walk through each one
      * and set it up. We will use a temporay socket and make it call
@@ -167,10 +181,8 @@
 		if (saun->sun_path[0] == '/') {
 		    files_.push_back(saun->sun_path);
 		} else {
-		    char buffer[MAXPATHLEN];
-
-		    if (getcwd(buffer, sizeof(buffer))) {
- 			std::string fullpath = buffer; fullpath += '/'; fullpath += saun->sun_path;
+		    if (!cwd.empty()) {
+ 			std::string fullpath = cwd; fullpath += '/'; fullpath += saun->sun_path;
 			files_.push_back(fullpath);
 		    } else {
 			files_.push_back(saun->sun_path);
--- a/src/unix/fs.cc
+++ b/src/unix/fs.cc
@@ -41,14 +41,28 @@
 string
 get_current_working_dir()
 {
-  char buffer[4096];
-  if (!getcwd(buffer, 4096))
+#if !defined(PATH_MAX) && defined(__GLIBC__)
+  std::string cwd;
+  char *buffer = ::get_current_dir_name();
+  if (!buffer)
+    {
+      const int err = errno;
+      E(false, origin::system,
+        F("cannot get working directory: %s") % os_strerror(err));
+    }
+  cwd = buffer;
+  free(buffer);
+  return cwd;
+#else
+  char buffer[PATH_MAX + 1];
+  if (!getcwd(buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1))
     {
       const int err = errno;
       E(false, origin::system,
         F("cannot get working directory: %s") % os_strerror(err));
     }
   return string(buffer);
+#endif
 }
 
 void