diff --git a/serapi/serapi_paths.ml b/serapi/serapi_paths.ml
index b71fa60..0bec8c2 100644
--- a/serapi/serapi_paths.ml
+++ b/serapi/serapi_paths.ml
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ let coq_loadpath_default ~implicit ~coq_path =
   let open Loadpath in
   let mk_path prefix = coq_path ^ "/" ^ prefix in
   (* let mk_ml = () in *)
-  let mk_vo ~has_ml ~coq_path ~dir ~implicit =
-    { unix_path = mk_path dir
+  let mk_vo ~has_ml ~coq_path ~dir ~implicit ~absolute =
+    { unix_path = if absolute then dir else mk_path dir
     ; coq_path
     ; has_ml
     ; recursive = true
@@ -40,10 +40,10 @@ let coq_loadpath_default ~implicit ~coq_path =
     List.map fst plugins_dirs
   in
   ml_paths ,
-  [ mk_vo ~has_ml:false ~coq_path:coq_root     ~implicit       ~dir:"theories"
-  ; mk_vo ~has_ml:true  ~coq_path:default_root ~implicit:false ~dir:"user-contrib";
+  [ mk_vo ~has_ml:false ~coq_path:coq_root     ~implicit       ~dir:"theories" ~absolute:false
+  ; mk_vo ~has_ml:true  ~coq_path:default_root ~implicit:false ~dir:"user-contrib" ~absolute:false;
   ] @
-  List.map (fun dir -> mk_vo ~has_ml:true ~coq_path:default_root ~implicit:false ~dir)
+  List.map (fun dir -> mk_vo ~has_ml:true ~coq_path:default_root ~implicit:false ~dir ~absolute:true)
     Envars.coqpath
 
 (******************************************************************************)