diff --git a/lib/kamal/configuration.rb b/lib/kamal/configuration.rb
index 116cf232..1b96467b 100644
--- a/lib/kamal/configuration.rb
+++ b/lib/kamal/configuration.rb
@@ -204,15 +204,11 @@ class Kamal::Configuration
 
 
   def run_directory
-    raw_config.run_directory || ".kamal"
+    ".kamal"
   end
 
   def run_directory_as_docker_volume
-    if Pathname.new(run_directory).absolute?
-      run_directory
-    else
-      File.join "$(pwd)", run_directory
-    end
+    File.join "$(pwd)", run_directory
   end
 
   def hooks_path
diff --git a/test/commands/server_test.rb b/test/commands/server_test.rb
index 8c465fd9..aa13fc04 100644
--- a/test/commands/server_test.rb
+++ b/test/commands/server_test.rb
@@ -12,10 +12,6 @@ class CommandsServerTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
     assert_equal "mkdir -p .kamal", new_command.ensure_run_directory.join(" ")
   end
 
-  test "ensure non default run directory" do
-    assert_equal "mkdir -p /var/run/kamal", new_command(run_directory: "/var/run/kamal").ensure_run_directory.join(" ")
-  end
-
   private
     def new_command(extra_config = {})
       Kamal::Commands::Server.new(Kamal::Configuration.new(@config.merge(extra_config)))
diff --git a/test/configuration_test.rb b/test/configuration_test.rb
index aa78dda9..eaa881d9 100644
--- a/test/configuration_test.rb
+++ b/test/configuration_test.rb
@@ -294,17 +294,11 @@ class ConfigurationTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
   test "run directory" do
     config = Kamal::Configuration.new(@deploy)
     assert_equal ".kamal", config.run_directory
-
-    config = Kamal::Configuration.new(@deploy.merge!(run_directory: "/root/kamal"))
-    assert_equal "/root/kamal", config.run_directory
   end
 
   test "run directory as docker volume" do
     config = Kamal::Configuration.new(@deploy)
     assert_equal "$(pwd)/.kamal", config.run_directory_as_docker_volume
-
-    config = Kamal::Configuration.new(@deploy.merge!(run_directory: "/root/kamal"))
-    assert_equal "/root/kamal", config.run_directory_as_docker_volume
   end
 
   test "run id" do