diff --git a/vars.py b/vars.py
index ae24865..c750cfc 100644
--- a/vars.py
+++ b/vars.py
@@ -6,9 +6,7 @@ DEPTH = os.environ.get('REDO_DEPTH', '')
 DEBUG = atoi.atoi(os.environ.get('REDO_DEBUG', ''))
 VERBOSE = os.environ.get('REDO_VERBOSE', '') and 1 or 0
 SHUFFLE = os.environ.get('REDO_SHUFFLE', '') and 1 or 0
-STARTDIR = os.environ.get('REDO_STARTDIR', '')
-BASE = os.environ.get('REDO_BASE', '')
-if BASE:
-    BASE = os.path.abspath(BASE)
-    while BASE and BASE.endswith('/'):
-        BASE = BASE[:-1]
+STARTDIR = os.environ['REDO_STARTDIR']
+BASE = os.environ['REDO_BASE']
+while BASE and BASE.endswith('/'):
+    BASE = BASE[:-1]