diff --git a/lib/node.js b/lib/node.js
index c2350b50..1c97c361 100644
--- a/lib/node.js
+++ b/lib/node.js
@@ -228,6 +228,7 @@ Node.prototype._startService = function(serviceInfo, callback) {
 Node.prototype._logTitle = function() {
   if (this.configPath) {
     log.info('Using config:', this.configPath);
+    log.info('Using network:', this.getNetworkName());
   }
 };
 
diff --git a/lib/scaffold/start.js b/lib/scaffold/start.js
index 378e96c3..e8654575 100644
--- a/lib/scaffold/start.js
+++ b/lib/scaffold/start.js
@@ -61,7 +61,6 @@ function checkConfigVersion2(fullConfig) {
  * @param {Object} options.config - The parsed bitcore-node.json configuration file
  * @param {Array}  options.config.services - An array of services names.
  * @param {Object} options.config.servicesConfig - Parameters to pass to each service
- * @param {String} options.config.datadir - A relative (to options.path) or absolute path to the datadir
  * @param {String} options.config.network - 'livenet', 'testnet' or 'regtest
  * @param {Number} options.config.port - The port to use for the web service
  */
diff --git a/lib/services/bitcoind.js b/lib/services/bitcoind.js
index 4e79fcd6..7e0e04f9 100644
--- a/lib/services/bitcoind.js
+++ b/lib/services/bitcoind.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 'use strict';
 
 var fs = require('fs');
+var path = require('path');
 var spawn = require('child_process').spawn;
 var util = require('util');
 var mkdirp = require('mkdirp');
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ var Transaction = bitcore.Transaction;
 var index = require('../');
 var errors = index.errors;
 var log = index.log;
+var utils = require('../utils');
 var Service = require('../service');
 
 /**
@@ -318,8 +320,17 @@ Bitcoin.prototype._loadSpawnConfiguration = function(node) {
   $.checkArgument(this.options.spawn.datadir, 'Please specify "spawn.datadir" in bitcoind config options');
   $.checkArgument(this.options.spawn.exec, 'Please specify "spawn.exec" in bitcoind config options');
 
+  if (!utils.isAbsolutePath(this.options.spawn.datadir)) {
+    $.checkState(this.node.configPath);
+    $.checkState(utils.isAbsolutePath(this.node.configPath));
+    var baseConfigPath = path.dirname(this.node.configPath);
+    this.options.spawn.datadir = path.resolve(baseConfigPath, this.options.spawn.datadir);
+  }
+
   var spawnOptions = this.options.spawn;
-  var configPath = spawnOptions.datadir + '/bitcoin.conf';
+  var configPath = path.resolve(spawnOptions.datadir, './bitcoin.conf');
+
+  log.info('Using bitcoin config file:', configPath);
 
   this.spawn = {};
   this.spawn.datadir = this.options.spawn.datadir;
diff --git a/test/services/bitcoind.unit.js b/test/services/bitcoind.unit.js
index 8719f7f5..f486113a 100644
--- a/test/services/bitcoind.unit.js
+++ b/test/services/bitcoind.unit.js
@@ -340,6 +340,13 @@ describe('Bitcoin Service', function() {
   });
 
   describe('#_loadSpawnConfiguration', function() {
+    var sandbox = sinon.sandbox.create();
+    beforeEach(function() {
+      sandbox.stub(log, 'info');
+    });
+    afterEach(function() {
+      sandbox.restore();
+    });
     it('will parse a bitcoin.conf file', function() {
       var TestBitcoin = proxyquire('../../lib/services/bitcoind', {
         fs: {
@@ -352,7 +359,9 @@ describe('Bitcoin Service', function() {
         }
       });
       var bitcoind = new TestBitcoin(baseConfig);
-      bitcoind._loadSpawnConfiguration({datadir: process.env.HOME + '/.bitcoin'});
+      bitcoind.options.spawn.datadir = '/tmp/.bitcoin';
+      var node = {};
+      bitcoind._loadSpawnConfiguration(node);
       should.exist(bitcoind.spawn.config);
       bitcoind.spawn.config.should.deep.equal({
         addressindex: 1,
@@ -374,6 +383,33 @@ describe('Bitcoin Service', function() {
         zmqpubrawtx: 'tcp://127.0.0.1:28332'
       });
     });
+    it('will expand relative datadir to absolute path', function() {
+      var TestBitcoin = proxyquire('../../lib/services/bitcoind', {
+        fs: {
+          readFileSync: readFileSync,
+          existsSync: sinon.stub().returns(true),
+          writeFileSync: sinon.stub()
+        },
+        mkdirp: {
+          sync: sinon.stub()
+        }
+      });
+      var config = {
+        node: {
+          network: bitcore.Networks.testnet,
+          configPath: '/tmp/.bitcore/bitcore-node.json'
+        },
+        spawn: {
+          datadir: './data',
+          exec: 'testpath'
+        }
+      };
+      var bitcoind = new TestBitcoin(config);
+      bitcoind.options.spawn.datadir = './data';
+      var node = {};
+      bitcoind._loadSpawnConfiguration(node);
+      bitcoind.options.spawn.datadir.should.equal('/tmp/.bitcore/data');
+    });
     it('should throw an exception if txindex isn\'t enabled in the configuration', function() {
       var TestBitcoin = proxyquire('../../lib/services/bitcoind', {
         fs: {
@@ -420,7 +456,9 @@ describe('Bitcoin Service', function() {
         }
       };
       var bitcoind = new TestBitcoin(config);
-      bitcoind._loadSpawnConfiguration({datadir: process.env.HOME + '/.bitcoin'});
+      bitcoind.options.spawn.datadir = '/tmp/.bitcoin';
+      var node = {};
+      bitcoind._loadSpawnConfiguration(node);
     });
   });