diff --git a/src/sbbs3/main.cpp b/src/sbbs3/main.cpp
index 97db40aefce204a271137ee8388186e8184ac9dd..a839b915d5bd6de0c12e6b0eb5480a9135d59dc8 100644
--- a/src/sbbs3/main.cpp
+++ b/src/sbbs3/main.cpp
@@ -2954,6 +2954,9 @@ void DLLCALL bbs_thread(void* arg)
 	lprintf("Initializing on %.24s with options: %lx"
 		,ctime(&t),startup->options);
 
+	if(_chdir(startup->ctrl_dir)!=0)
+		lprintf("!ERROR changing directory to: %s", startup->ctrl_dir);
+
 	/* Initial configuration and load from CNF files */
 	scfg.startup=startup;
     sprintf(scfg.ctrl_dir, "%.*s", (int)sizeof(scfg.ctrl_dir)-1