diff --git a/tests/runtests.pl b/tests/runtests.pl
index 17089ae546b9ec64e511753525ced96534c3ec29..697f6f784f46d8f8e6196f676b75b83fa4ec3ac5 100755
--- a/tests/runtests.pl
+++ b/tests/runtests.pl
@@ -784,7 +784,7 @@ sub singletest {
         print GDBCMD "set args $cmdargs\n";
         print GDBCMD "show args\n";
         close(GDBCMD);
-        system("gdb $DBGCURL -x log/gdbcmd");
+        system("gdb --directory libtest $DBGCURL -x log/gdbcmd");
         $res =0; # makes it always continue after a debugged run
     }
     else {