diff --git a/mps/qa/test/qa b/mps/qa/test/qa
index 89bce76b8d8..59616bfed22 100644
--- a/mps/qa/test/qa
+++ b/mps/qa/test/qa
@@ -16,11 +16,14 @@ $test_dir = $0;
 
 $0 = "qa testing"; # this will show up in ps
 
-if ($test_dir eq "qa") {
- $test_dir = "./qa"
-}
+$test_dir =~ s/\\/\//; # i.e. convert to unix-style separators
+
+unless ($test_dir =~ m/\//) {
+ $test_dir = "./".$test_dir;
+} # ensure it has at least one / in it
+
+$test_dir =~ s/\/\w+$//; # remove leaf name and preceding separator
 
-$test_dir =~ s/\/\w+$//;
 $script_dir = $test_dir."/script";
 
 foreach (@INC) {