diff --git a/lib/tasks/batch_inviter.rake b/lib/tasks/batch_inviter.rake
index b2f09738c..1a862a4bf 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/batch_inviter.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/batch_inviter.rake
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ namespace :invites do
     end
 
 
-    require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../../config/environment'
-    
+   require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', '..', 'config', 'environment')
+
     filename = args[:filename]
     start = args[:start].to_i || 0
     number_of_backers = args[:number] || 1000
diff --git a/lib/tasks/db.rake b/lib/tasks/db.rake
index d3e8a1dee..4da04ce86 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/db.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/db.rake
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ namespace :db do
 
   desc 'Delete the collections in the current RAILS_ENV database'
   task :purge do
-    require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../../config/environment'
+    require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', '..', 'config', 'environment')
 
     puts "Purging the database for #{Rails.env}..."
 
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ namespace :db do
 
   task :fix_diaspora_handle do
     puts "fixing the people in this seed"
-    require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../../config/environment'
+    require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', '..', 'config', 'environment')
     Person.where(:url => 'example.org').all.each{|person|
       if person.owner
         person.url = AppConfig[:pod_url]
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ namespace :db do
   end
 
   task :move_private_key do
-    require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../../config/environment'
+    require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', '..', 'config', 'environment')
     User.all.each do |user|
       if user.serialized_private_key.nil?
         user.serialized_private_key = user.person.serialized_key
diff --git a/lib/tasks/migrations.rake b/lib/tasks/migrations.rake
index 4262bd15d..ed049a2d7 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/migrations.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/migrations.rake
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ namespace :migrations do
 
   desc 'import data to mysql'
   task :import_to_mysql do
-    require 'config/environment'
+    require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', '..', 'config', 'environment')
     migrator = DataConversion::ImportToMysql.new
     migrator.full_path = "/tmp/data_conversion/csv"
     migrator.log("**** Starting import to MySQL database #{ActiveRecord::Base.connection.current_database} ****")
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ namespace :migrations do
 
   desc 'absolutify all existing image references'
   task :absolutify_image_references do
-    require File.join(Rails.root,"config/environment")
+    require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', '..', 'config', 'environment')
 
     Photo.all.each do |photo|
       unless photo.remote_photo_path
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ namespace :migrations do
   end
 
   task :upload_photos_to_s3 do
-    require File.join(Rails.root,"config/environment")
+    require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', '..', 'config', 'environment')
     puts AppConfig[:s3_key]
     
     connection = Aws::S3.new( AppConfig[:s3_key], AppConfig[:s3_secret])
diff --git a/lib/tasks/resque.rake b/lib/tasks/resque.rake
index 84a544da0..9c714ab5d 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/resque.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/resque.rake
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 require 'resque/tasks'
 task "resque:setup" do
-  require 'config/environment'
+  require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', '..', 'config', 'environment')
   Rails.logger.info("event=resque_setup rails_env=#{Rails.env}")
 end
diff --git a/script/websocket_server.rb b/script/websocket_server.rb
index 8acd73027..7b50bce2d 100644
--- a/script/websocket_server.rb
+++ b/script/websocket_server.rb
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #   licensed under the Affero General Public License version 3 or later.  See
 #   the COPYRIGHT file.
 
-require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../config/environment'
+require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', 'config', 'environment')
 require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../lib/diaspora/web_socket'
 
 at_exit do
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 83feae286..3c7d032be 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 # This file is copied to ~/spec when you run 'ruby script/generate rspec'
 # from the project root directory.
 ENV["RAILS_ENV"] ||= 'test'
-require File.dirname(__FILE__) + "/../config/environment" unless defined?(Rails)
+require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', 'config', 'environment') unless defined?(Rails)
 require 'helper_methods'
 require 'rspec/rails'
 require 'webmock/rspec'