diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/IO/PhysicalFileSystem.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/IO/PhysicalFileSystem.cs
index 9bef38b68f..8fcda3d10e 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/IO/PhysicalFileSystem.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/IO/PhysicalFileSystem.cs
@@ -33,6 +33,16 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.IO
 			if (rootPath.StartsWith("~/"))
 				throw new ArgumentException("The rootPath argument cannot be a virtual path and cannot start with '~/'");
 
+            // rootPath should be... rooted, as in, it's a root path!
+            // but the test suite App.config cannot really "root" anything so we'll have to do it here
+
+            //var localRoot = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory;
+            var localRoot = IOHelper.GetRootDirectorySafe();
+            if (Path.IsPathRooted(rootPath) == false)
+            {
+                rootPath = Path.Combine(localRoot, rootPath);
+            }
+
             RootPath = rootPath;
             _rootUrl = rootUrl;
         }
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/App.config b/src/Umbraco.Tests/App.config
index 9599390dfb..aa8ed6b0a7 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/App.config
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/App.config
@@ -12,41 +12,41 @@
     <FileSystemProviders>
       <Provider alias="media" type="Umbraco.Core.IO.PhysicalFileSystem, Umbraco.Core">
         <Parameters>
-          <add key="rootPath" value="\Media\" />
+          <add key="rootPath" value="Media\" />
           <add key="rootUrl" value="/Media/" />
         </Parameters>
       </Provider>
       <!-- Macros -->
       <Provider alias="macros" type="Umbraco.Core.IO.PhysicalFileSystem, Umbraco.Core">
         <Parameters>
-          <add key="rootPath" value="\App_Data\Macros" />
+          <add key="rootPath" value="App_Data\Macros" />
           <add key="rootUrl" value="/Macros/" />
         </Parameters>
       </Provider>
       <!-- Scripts -->
       <Provider alias="scripts" type="Umbraco.Core.IO.PhysicalFileSystem, Umbraco.Core">
         <Parameters>
-          <add key="rootPath" value="\scripts\" />
+          <add key="rootPath" value="scripts\" />
           <add key="rootUrl" value="/scripts/" />
         </Parameters>
       </Provider>
       <!-- Stylesheets -->
       <Provider alias="stylesheets" type="Umbraco.Core.IO.PhysicalFileSystem, Umbraco.Core">
         <Parameters>
-          <add key="rootPath" value="\css\" />
+          <add key="rootPath" value="css\" />
           <add key="rootUrl" value="/css/" />
         </Parameters>
       </Provider>
       <!-- Templates -->
       <Provider alias="masterpages" type="Umbraco.Core.IO.PhysicalFileSystem, Umbraco.Core">
         <Parameters>
-          <add key="rootPath" value="\masterpages\" />
+          <add key="rootPath" value="masterpages\" />
           <add key="rootUrl" value="/masterpages/" />
         </Parameters>
       </Provider>
       <Provider alias="views" type="Umbraco.Core.IO.PhysicalFileSystem, Umbraco.Core">
         <Parameters>
-          <add key="rootPath" value="\views\" />
+          <add key="rootPath" value="views\" />
           <add key="rootUrl" value="/views/" />
         </Parameters>
       </Provider>