diff --git a/usr.sbin/pw/pw.h b/usr.sbin/pw/pw.h
index fde3ce3ef69d..d5e2c600079f 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pw/pw.h
+++ b/usr.sbin/pw/pw.h
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ enum _which
 };
 
 #define	_DEF_DIRMODE	(S_IRWXU | S_IRWXG | S_IRWXO)
+#define	_PW_CONF	"pw.conf"
 #define _PATH_PW_CONF	"/etc/pw.conf"
 #define _UC_MAXLINE	1024
 #define _UC_MAXSHELLS	32
diff --git a/usr.sbin/pw/pw_conf.c b/usr.sbin/pw/pw_conf.c
index 36bb8b61e9d1..f7b98f188f77 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pw/pw_conf.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/pw/pw_conf.c
@@ -417,9 +417,13 @@ write_userconfig(struct userconf *cnf, const char *file)
 	int             i, j;
 	struct sbuf	*buf;
 	FILE           *fp;
+	char		cfgfile[MAXPATHLEN];
 
-	if (file == NULL)
-		file = _PATH_PW_CONF;
+	if (file == NULL) {
+		snprintf(cfgfile, sizeof(cfgfile), "%s/" _PW_CONF,
+		    conf.etcpath);
+		file = cfgfile;
+	}
 
 	if ((fd = open(file, O_CREAT|O_RDWR|O_TRUNC|O_EXLOCK, 0644)) == -1)
 		return (0);
diff --git a/usr.sbin/pw/pw_utils.c b/usr.sbin/pw/pw_utils.c
index e4839779e15f..fbf4a3f5f560 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pw/pw_utils.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/pw/pw_utils.c
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ get_userconfig(const char *config)
 
 	if (config != NULL)
 		return (read_userconfig(config));
-	snprintf(defaultcfg, sizeof(defaultcfg), "%s/pw.conf", conf.etcpath);
+	snprintf(defaultcfg, sizeof(defaultcfg), "%s/" _PW_CONF, conf.etcpath);
 	return (read_userconfig(defaultcfg));
 }