diff --git a/src/switch_core.c b/src/switch_core.c
index 85e795c408..0ee4708a3d 100644
--- a/src/switch_core.c
+++ b/src/switch_core.c
@@ -480,9 +480,13 @@ SWITCH_DECLARE(void) switch_core_set_globals(void)
 	DWORD dwBufSize = BUFSIZE;
 	char base_dir[1024];
 	char *lastbacklash;
+
 	GetModuleFileName(NULL, base_dir, BUFSIZE);
 	lastbacklash = strrchr(base_dir, '\\');
 	base_dir[(lastbacklash - base_dir)] = '\0';
+	/* set base_dir as cwd, to be able to use relative paths in scripting languages (e.g. mod_lua) when FS is running as a service or while debugging FS using visual studio */
+	SetCurrentDirectory(base_dir);
+
 #else
 	char base_dir[1024] = SWITCH_PREFIX_DIR;
 #endif