diff --git a/qemu-nbd.c b/qemu-nbd.c
index 136e8c9..2dc75aa 100644
--- a/qemu-nbd.c
+++ b/qemu-nbd.c
@@ -376,6 +376,7 @@
     memset(&sa_sigterm, 0, sizeof(sa_sigterm));
     sa_sigterm.sa_handler = termsig_handler;
     sigaction(SIGTERM, &sa_sigterm, NULL);
+    qemu_init_exec_dir(argv[0]);
 
     while ((ch = getopt_long(argc, argv, sopt, lopt, &opt_ind)) != -1) {
         switch (ch) {