diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 388bd2c7..0d38dc3f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -311,9 +311,9 @@ Restricts Pieman to only creating a chroot environment based on the operating sy
 
 Specifies the locale.
 
-##### PIEMAN_DIR="$(pwd)"
+##### PIEMAN_DIR="$( dirname "$(readlink -f "$0")" )"
 
-Specifies the directory into which Pieman is installed.
+Specifies the directory into which Pieman is installed. See [this](https://stackoverflow.com/a/1482133) answer on StackOverflow to know how the default value works.
 
 ##### PREPARE_ONLY_TOOLSET=false
 
diff --git a/bootstrap/15-networking.sh b/bootstrap/15-networking.sh
index 9c07be24..8dfbde18 100644
--- a/bootstrap/15-networking.sh
+++ b/bootstrap/15-networking.sh
@@ -55,10 +55,10 @@ elif is_debian_based; then
     fi
 fi
 
-install_readonly files/etc/hostname.template "${ETC}"/hostname
+install_readonly "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/files/etc/hostname.template "${ETC}"/hostname
 sed -i "s/{HOSTNAME}/${HOST_NAME}/" "${ETC}/hostname"
 
-install_readonly files/etc/hosts.template "${ETC}"/hosts
+install_readonly "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/files/etc/hosts.template "${ETC}"/hosts
 sed -i "s/{HOSTNAME}/${HOST_NAME}/" "${ETC}/hosts"
 
 render "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/files/network/interfaces.j2 "${ETC}"/network/interfaces
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ if ${ENABLE_WIRELESS}; then
         wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RPi-Distro/firmware-nonfree/86e88fbf0345da49555d0ec34c80b4fbae7d0cd3/brcm/brcmfmac43430-sdio.bin -O "${R}"/lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43430-sdio.bin
         wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RPi-Distro/firmware-nonfree/86e88fbf0345da49555d0ec34c80b4fbae7d0cd3/brcm/brcmfmac43430-sdio.txt -O "${R}"/lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac43430-sdio.txt
 
-        install_readonly files/network/wpa_supplicant.conf "${ETC}"/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
+        install_readonly "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/files/network/wpa_supplicant.conf "${ETC}"/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
 
         if [[ -n ${WPA_SSID} ]]; then
             do_wpa_passphrase >> "${ETC}"/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ if is_alpine; then
     info "Adding the networking service to the default runlevel"
     chroot_exec rc-update add networking default
 
-    install_exec files/etc/local.d/11-up_eth0.start "${ETC}"/local.d/11-up_eth0.start
+    install_exec "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/files/etc/local.d/11-up_eth0.start "${ETC}"/local.d/11-up_eth0.start
 
     # The networking service should depend on the local service since one of
     # the scripts from /etc/local.d raises the network interface.
diff --git a/bootstrap/30-fixes.sh b/bootstrap/30-fixes.sh
index a5a9ba9e..04fa2571 100644
--- a/bootstrap/30-fixes.sh
+++ b/bootstrap/30-fixes.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 if is_alpine; then
     # For some reason the rw parameter in cmdline.txt is ignored, so the rootfs
     # should be remounted at startup.
-    install_exec files/etc/local.d/10-remount_root.start "${ETC}"/local.d/10-remount_root.start
+    install_exec "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/files/etc/local.d/10-remount_root.start "${ETC}"/local.d/10-remount_root.start
 
     # Since the system is already installed, the message may confuse users.
     sed -i '/You can setup the system/,+1d' "${ETC}/motd"
diff --git a/bootstrap/40-deskop.sh b/bootstrap/40-deskop.sh
index fcc5522b..088f4c4c 100644
--- a/bootstrap/40-deskop.sh
+++ b/bootstrap/40-deskop.sh
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@
 # along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 if ${XFCE4}; then 
-    install_exec files/desktop/06xfce4.desktop "${R}"/usr/share/xsessions/06xfce4.desktop
+    install_exec "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/files/desktop/06xfce4.desktop "${R}"/usr/share/xsessions/06xfce4.desktop
 fi
 
 if ${XFCE4}; then
-    install_exec files/desktop/lxdm.conf "${R}"/etc/lxdm.conf
+    install_exec "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/files/desktop/lxdm.conf "${R}"/etc/lxdm.conf
 fi
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/bootstrap/50-firstboot.sh b/bootstrap/50-firstboot.sh
index c13ee0e7..56c52803 100644
--- a/bootstrap/50-firstboot.sh
+++ b/bootstrap/50-firstboot.sh
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ info "Preparing ${FIRSTBOOT}"
 touch "${FIRSTBOOT}"
 chmod +x "${FIRSTBOOT}"
 
-for script in files/firstboot/*.sh; do
+for script in "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/files/firstboot/*.sh; do
     cat "${script}" >> "${FIRSTBOOT}"
 done
 
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ if is_alpine; then
     echo "rm -f /etc/local.d/90-firstboot.start" >> "${ETC}"/local.d/90-firstboot.start
 elif is_debian_based; then
     install_exec "${FIRSTBOOT}" "${ETC}"/rc.firstboot
-    install_exec files/etc/rc.local "${ETC}"/rc.local
+    install_exec "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/files/etc/rc.local "${ETC}"/rc.local
 
     # /etc/rc.firstboot has to destroy itself and its traces after first run.
     cat <<EOT >> "${ETC}"/rc.firstboot
diff --git a/essentials.sh b/essentials.sh
index 73768c03..3761027b 100644
--- a/essentials.sh
+++ b/essentials.sh
@@ -65,10 +65,10 @@ IMAGE_MENDER_ARTIFACT=3
 # Returns:
 #     None
 activate_venv_if_exists() {
-    if [[ -d venv ]] && [[ -f venv/bin/python ]]; then
+    if [[ -d "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/venv ]] && [[ -f "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/venv/bin/python ]]; then
         info "activating the venv virtual environment"
         # shellcheck disable=SC1091
-        source ./venv/bin/activate
+        source "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/venv/bin/activate
     fi
 }
 
diff --git a/helpers/others.sh b/helpers/others.sh
index 1978566e..fd5dd951 100644
--- a/helpers/others.sh
+++ b/helpers/others.sh
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ add_option_to_pm_options() {
 # Returns:
 #     None
 create_keyring() {
-    for key in keys/"${PIECES[0]}"/*; do
+    for key in "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/keys/"${PIECES[0]}"/*; do
         gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring="${KEYRING}" --import "${key}"
     done
 }
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ create_keyring() {
 # Returns:
 #     None
 mark_keys_as_trusted() {
-    for key in keys/"${PIECES[0]}"/*; do
+    for key in "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/keys/"${PIECES[0]}"/*; do
         local key_name=""
 
         key_name=$(basename "${key}")
diff --git a/pieman.sh b/pieman.sh
index f4c4201a..d05a3968 100755
--- a/pieman.sh
+++ b/pieman.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-# Copyright (C) 2017 Evgeny Golyshev <eugulixes@gmail.com>
+# Copyright (C) 2017-2020 Evgeny Golyshev <eugulixes@gmail.com>
 #
 # This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -19,7 +19,11 @@ if [ "$(id -u)" -ne "0" ]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
-. ./essentials.sh
+PIEMAN_DIR=${PIEMAN_DIR:=$( dirname "$(readlink -f "$0")" )}
+export PIEMAN_DIR
+
+# shellcheck source=./essentials.sh
+. "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/essentials.sh
 
 set -eE
 
@@ -102,8 +106,6 @@ def_var OS "raspbian-buster-armhf"
 
 def_protected_var PASSWORD "secret"
 
-def_var PIEMAN_DIR "$(pwd)"
-
 def_bool_var PREPARE_ONLY_TOOLSET false
 
 def_var PYTHON "python3"
@@ -166,7 +168,7 @@ def_private_var REDIS_IS_AVAILABLE true
 
 def_private_var TOOLSET_FULL_PATH "${TOOLSET_DIR}/${TOOLSET_CODENAME}"
 
-def_private_var SOURCE_DIR "devices/${DEVICE}/${OS}"
+def_private_var SOURCE_DIR "${PIEMAN_DIR}/devices/${DEVICE}/${OS}"
 
 def_private_var YML_FILE "${SOURCE_DIR}/pieman.yml"
 
@@ -174,11 +176,13 @@ activate_venv_if_exists
 
 check_dependencies
 
-run_scripts "helpers"
+run_scripts "${PIEMAN_DIR}/helpers"
 
-. ./mutually_exclusive_params.sh
+# shellcheck source=./mutually_exclusive_params.sh
+. "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/mutually_exclusive_params.sh
 
-. ./depend_on.sh
+# shellcheck source=./depend_on.sh
+. "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/depend_on.sh
 
 if [[ -n ${WPA_PSK} ]]; then
     check_if_wpa_psk_is_valid
@@ -214,7 +218,8 @@ info "checking toolset ${TOOLSET_CODENAME}"
 if [ ! -d "${TOOLSET_FULL_PATH}" ]; then
     info "building toolset ${TOOLSET_CODENAME} since it does not exist"
 fi
-. toolset.sh
+# shellcheck source=./toolset.sh
+. "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/toolset.sh
 
 # shellcheck source=./pieman/pieman/build_status_codes
 . "${PIEMAN_DIR}"/pieman/pieman/build_status_codes
@@ -260,7 +265,7 @@ for param in ${params}; do
     eval ${param}=true
 done
 
-run_scripts "bootstrap"
+run_scripts "${PIEMAN_DIR}/bootstrap"
 
 umount_required_filesystems