diff --git a/lib/config.cc b/lib/config.cc
index 50bcf6a2..abdc19c3 100644
--- a/lib/config.cc
+++ b/lib/config.cc
@@ -387,6 +387,23 @@ notmuch_config_pairs_destroy (notmuch_config_pairs_t *pairs)
     talloc_free (pairs);
 }
 
+static char *
+_expand_path (void *ctx, const char *key, const char *val)
+{
+    char *expanded_val;
+
+    if ((strcmp (key, "database.path") == 0 ||
+	 strcmp (key, "database.mail_root") == 0 ||
+	 strcmp (key, "database.hook_dir") == 0 ||
+	 strcmp (key, "database.backup_path") == 0 ) &&
+	val[0] != '/')
+	expanded_val = talloc_asprintf (ctx, "%s/%s", getenv ("HOME"), val);
+    else
+	expanded_val = talloc_strdup (ctx, val);
+
+    return expanded_val;
+}
+
 notmuch_status_t
 _notmuch_config_load_from_file (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
 				GKeyFile *file)
@@ -407,14 +424,17 @@ _notmuch_config_load_from_file (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
 	keys = g_key_file_get_keys (file, *grp, NULL, NULL);
 	for (gchar **keys_p = keys; *keys_p; keys_p++) {
 	    char *absolute_key = talloc_asprintf (notmuch, "%s.%s", *grp,  *keys_p);
+	    char *normalized_val;
 	    val = g_key_file_get_value (file, *grp, *keys_p, NULL);
 	    if (! val) {
 		status = NOTMUCH_STATUS_FILE_ERROR;
 		goto DONE;
 	    }
-	    _notmuch_string_map_set (notmuch->config, absolute_key, val);
+	    normalized_val = _expand_path (notmuch, absolute_key, val);
+	    _notmuch_string_map_set (notmuch->config, absolute_key, normalized_val);
 	    g_free (val);
 	    talloc_free (absolute_key);
+	    talloc_free (normalized_val);
 	    if (status)
 		goto DONE;
 	}
diff --git a/test/T030-config.sh b/test/T030-config.sh
index b22d8f29..7a1660e9 100755
--- a/test/T030-config.sh
+++ b/test/T030-config.sh
@@ -117,12 +117,12 @@ test_expect_equal "$(notmuch config get database.path)" \
 
 ln -s `pwd`/mail home/Maildir
 add_email_corpus
-test_begin_subtest "Relative database path expanded in open"
+test_begin_subtest "Relative database path expanded"
 notmuch config set database.path Maildir
-path=$(notmuch config get database.path)
+path=$(notmuch config get database.path | notmuch_dir_sanitize)
 count=$(notmuch count '*')
 test_expect_equal "${path} ${count}" \
-		  "Maildir 52"
+		  "CWD/home/Maildir 52"
 
 test_begin_subtest "Add config to database"
 notmuch new
diff --git a/test/T050-new.sh b/test/T050-new.sh
index 5c07b209..db443a1d 100755
--- a/test/T050-new.sh
+++ b/test/T050-new.sh
@@ -395,7 +395,6 @@ EOF
 test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT
 
 test_begin_subtest "Relative database path expanded in new"
-test_subtest_known_broken
 ln -s "$PWD/mail" home/Maildir
 notmuch config set database.path Maildir
 generate_message