diff --git a/conf.go b/conf.go
index a088936..df2e847 100644
--- a/conf.go
+++ b/conf.go
@@ -71,7 +71,9 @@ func confInit() {
 	}
 
 	if conf.RulesDir != "" {
-		conf.RulesDir = path.Join(flag.ConfDir(), conf.RulesDir)
+                if !path.IsAbs(conf.RulesDir) {
+                        conf.RulesDir = path.Join(flag.ConfDir(), conf.RulesDir)
+                }
 		ruleFolderFiles, _ := listDir(conf.RulesDir, ".rule")
 
 		for _, ruleFile := range ruleFolderFiles {