diff --git a/agent/gpg-agent.c b/agent/gpg-agent.c
index efaebfd94..ef351749f 100644
--- a/agent/gpg-agent.c
+++ b/agent/gpg-agent.c
@@ -1708,9 +1708,10 @@ main (int argc, char **argv )
           opt.running_detached = 1;
         }
 
-      if (chdir("/"))
+      if (gnupg_chdir (gnupg_daemon_rootdir ()))
         {
-          log_error ("chdir to / failed: %s\n", strerror (errno));
+          log_error ("chdir to '%s' failed: %s\n",
+                     gnupg_daemon_rootdir (), strerror (errno));
           exit (1);
         }
 
diff --git a/common/homedir.c b/common/homedir.c
index fce6d44be..a30e8dc76 100644
--- a/common/homedir.c
+++ b/common/homedir.c
@@ -433,6 +433,34 @@ gnupg_default_homedir_p (void)
 }
 
 
+/* Return the directory name used by daemons for their current working
+ * directory.  */
+const char *
+gnupg_daemon_rootdir (void)
+{
+#ifdef HAVE_W32_SYSTEM
+  static char *name;
+
+  if (!name)
+    {
+      char path[MAX_PATH];
+      size_t n;
+
+      n = GetSystemDirectoryA (path, sizeof path);
+      if (!n || n >= sizeof path)
+        name = xstrdup ("/"); /* Error - use the curret top dir instead.  */
+      else
+        name = xstrdup (path);
+    }
+
+  return name;
+
+#else /*!HAVE_W32_SYSTEM*/
+  return "/";
+#endif /*!HAVE_W32_SYSTEM*/
+}
+
+
 /* Helper for gnupg-socketdir.  This is a global function, so that
  * gpgconf can use it for its --create-socketdir command.  If
  * SKIP_CHECKS is set permission checks etc. are not done.  The
diff --git a/common/sysutils.c b/common/sysutils.c
index 1aa2e5314..e90010c44 100644
--- a/common/sysutils.c
+++ b/common/sysutils.c
@@ -796,6 +796,15 @@ gnupg_mkdir (const char *name, const char *modestr)
 }
 
 
+/* A simple wrapper around chdir.  NAME is expected to be utf8
+ * encoded.  */
+int
+gnupg_chdir (const char *name)
+{
+  return chdir (name);
+}
+
+
 /* A wrapper around chmod which takes a string for the mode argument.
    This makes it easier to handle the mode argument which is not
    defined on all systems.  The format of the modestring is the same
diff --git a/common/sysutils.h b/common/sysutils.h
index e93ea2b1c..009b14b4a 100644
--- a/common/sysutils.h
+++ b/common/sysutils.h
@@ -65,7 +65,8 @@ void gnupg_allow_set_foregound_window (pid_t pid);
 int  gnupg_remove (const char *fname);
 gpg_error_t gnupg_rename_file (const char *oldname, const char *newname,
                                int *block_signals);
-int  gnupg_mkdir (const char *name, const char *modestr);
+int gnupg_mkdir (const char *name, const char *modestr);
+int gnupg_chdir (const char *name);
 int gnupg_chmod (const char *name, const char *modestr);
 char *gnupg_mkdtemp (char *template);
 int  gnupg_setenv (const char *name, const char *value, int overwrite);
diff --git a/common/util.h b/common/util.h
index 5b712d3e9..c6d19c64b 100644
--- a/common/util.h
+++ b/common/util.h
@@ -235,6 +235,7 @@ const char *default_homedir (void);
 void gnupg_set_homedir (const char *newdir);
 const char *gnupg_homedir (void);
 int gnupg_default_homedir_p (void);
+const char *gnupg_daemon_rootdir (void);
 const char *gnupg_socketdir (void);
 const char *gnupg_sysconfdir (void);
 const char *gnupg_bindir (void);
diff --git a/dirmngr/dirmngr.c b/dirmngr/dirmngr.c
index 6eabca9c3..436c8080b 100644
--- a/dirmngr/dirmngr.c
+++ b/dirmngr/dirmngr.c
@@ -1351,11 +1351,13 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
           log_set_prefix (NULL, oldflags | GPGRT_LOG_RUN_DETACHED);
           opt.running_detached = 1;
 
-          if (chdir("/"))
+          if (gnupg_chdir (gnupg_daemon_rootdir ()))
             {
-              log_error ("chdir to / failed: %s\n", strerror (errno));
+              log_error ("chdir to '%s' failed: %s\n",
+                         gnupg_daemon_rootdir (), strerror (errno));
               dirmngr_exit (1);
             }
+
         }
 #endif
 
diff --git a/scd/scdaemon.c b/scd/scdaemon.c
index 26e89dd8d..bf3f42a0e 100644
--- a/scd/scdaemon.c
+++ b/scd/scdaemon.c
@@ -908,9 +908,10 @@ main (int argc, char **argv )
         sigaction (SIGPIPE, &sa, NULL);
       }
 
-      if (chdir("/"))
+      if (gnupg_chdir (gnupg_daemon_rootdir ()))
         {
-          log_error ("chdir to / failed: %s\n", strerror (errno));
+          log_error ("chdir to '%s' failed: %s\n",
+                     gnupg_daemon_rootdir (), strerror (errno));
           exit (1);
         }