diff --git a/src/qt/guiutil.cpp b/src/qt/guiutil.cpp
--- a/src/qt/guiutil.cpp
+++ b/src/qt/guiutil.cpp
@@ -397,7 +397,8 @@
 }
 
 bool openBitcoinConf() {
-    fs::path pathConfig = GetConfigFile(BITCOIN_CONF_FILENAME);
+    fs::path pathConfig =
+        GetConfigFile(gArgs.GetArg("-conf", BITCOIN_CONF_FILENAME));
 
     /* Create the file */
     fs::ofstream configFile(pathConfig, std::ios_base::app);