diff --git a/src/bitcoin-cli.cpp b/src/bitcoin-cli.cpp
--- a/src/bitcoin-cli.cpp
+++ b/src/bitcoin-cli.cpp
@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@
     gArgs.AddArg("-version", "Print version and exit", false,
                  OptionsCategory::OPTIONS);
     gArgs.AddArg("-conf=<file>",
-                 strprintf(_("Specify configuration file (default: %s)"),
+                 strprintf(_("Specify configuration file. Relative paths will "
+                             "be prefixed by datadir location. (default: %s)"),
                            BITCOIN_CONF_FILENAME),
                  false, OptionsCategory::OPTIONS);
     gArgs.AddArg("-datadir=<dir>", _("Specify data directory"), false,
diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -374,7 +374,8 @@
                   DEFAULT_BLOCKSONLY),
         true, OptionsCategory::OPTIONS);
     gArgs.AddArg("-conf=<file>",
-                 strprintf(_("Specify configuration file (default: %s)"),
+                 strprintf(_("Specify configuration file. Relative paths will "
+                             "be prefixed by datadir location. (default: %s)"),
                            BITCOIN_CONF_FILENAME),
                  false, OptionsCategory::OPTIONS);
     gArgs.AddArg("-datadir=<dir>", _("Specify data directory"), false,
@@ -393,8 +394,8 @@
     gArgs.AddArg(
         "-debuglogfile=<file>",
         strprintf(
-            _("Specify location of debug log file: this can be an absolute "
-              "path or a path relative to the data directory (default: %s)"),
+            _("Specify location of debug log file. Relative paths will be "
+              "prefixed by a net-specific datadir location. (default: %s)"),
             DEFAULT_DEBUGLOGFILE),
         false, OptionsCategory::OPTIONS);
     gArgs.AddArg("-feefilter",
@@ -460,7 +461,9 @@
 #ifndef WIN32
     gArgs.AddArg(
         "-pid=<file>",
-        strprintf(_("Specify pid file (default: %s)"), BITCOIN_PID_FILENAME),
+        strprintf(_("Specify pid file. Relative paths will be prefixed by a "
+                    "net-specific datadir location. (default: %s)"),
+                  BITCOIN_PID_FILENAME),
         false, OptionsCategory::OPTIONS);
 #endif
     gArgs.AddArg(
@@ -934,9 +937,11 @@
           "::1 i.e., localhost, or if -rpcallowip has been specified, 0.0.0.0 "
           "and :: i.e., all addresses)"),
         false, OptionsCategory::RPC);
-    gArgs.AddArg("-rpccookiefile=<loc>",
-                 _("Location of the auth cookie (default: data dir)"), false,
-                 OptionsCategory::RPC);
+    gArgs.AddArg(
+        "-rpccookiefile=<loc>",
+        _("Location of the auth cookie. Relative paths will be prefixed by a "
+          "net-specific datadir location. (default: data dir)"),
+        false, OptionsCategory::RPC);
     gArgs.AddArg("-rpcuser=<user>", _("Username for JSON-RPC connections"),
                  false, OptionsCategory::RPC);
     gArgs.AddArg("-rpcpassword=<pw>", _("Password for JSON-RPC connections"),
diff --git a/src/logging.cpp b/src/logging.cpp
--- a/src/logging.cpp
+++ b/src/logging.cpp
@@ -36,11 +36,7 @@
 
 fs::path BCLog::Logger::GetDebugLogPath() {
     fs::path logfile(gArgs.GetArg("-debuglogfile", DEFAULT_DEBUGLOGFILE));
-    if (logfile.is_absolute()) {
-        return logfile;
-    } else {
-        return GetDataDir() / logfile;
-    }
+    return AbsPathForConfigVal(logfile);
 }
 
 bool BCLog::Logger::OpenDebugLog() {
diff --git a/src/rpc/protocol.cpp b/src/rpc/protocol.cpp
--- a/src/rpc/protocol.cpp
+++ b/src/rpc/protocol.cpp
@@ -72,11 +72,7 @@
     if (temp) {
         arg += ".tmp";
     }
-    fs::path path(arg);
-    if (!path.is_complete()) {
-        path = GetDataDir() / path;
-    }
-    return path;
+    return AbsPathForConfigVal(fs::path(arg));
 }
 
 bool GenerateAuthCookie(std::string *cookie_out) {
diff --git a/src/util.h b/src/util.h
--- a/src/util.h
+++ b/src/util.h
@@ -99,6 +99,16 @@
 #endif
 void runCommand(const std::string &strCommand);
 
+/**
+ * Most paths passed as configuration arguments are treated as relative to
+ * the datadir if they are not absolute.
+ *
+ * @param path The path to be conditionally prefixed with datadir.
+ * @param net_specific Forwarded to GetDataDir().
+ * @return The normalized path.
+ */
+fs::path AbsPathForConfigVal(const fs::path &path, bool net_specific = true);
+
 inline bool IsSwitchChar(char c) {
 #ifdef WIN32
     return c == '-' || c == '/';
diff --git a/src/util.cpp b/src/util.cpp
--- a/src/util.cpp
+++ b/src/util.cpp
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include <config/bitcoin-config.h>
 #endif
 
+#include <fs.h>
 #include <util.h>
 
 #include <chainparamsbase.h>
@@ -894,12 +895,7 @@
 }
 
 fs::path GetConfigFile(const std::string &confPath) {
-    fs::path pathConfigFile(confPath);
-    if (!pathConfigFile.is_complete()) {
-        pathConfigFile = GetDataDir(false) / pathConfigFile;
-    }
-
-    return pathConfigFile;
+    return AbsPathForConfigVal(fs::path(confPath), false);
 }
 
 static std::string TrimString(const std::string &str,
@@ -1043,11 +1039,8 @@
 
 #ifndef WIN32
 fs::path GetPidFile() {
-    fs::path pathPidFile(gArgs.GetArg("-pid", BITCOIN_PID_FILENAME));
-    if (!pathPidFile.is_complete()) {
-        pathPidFile = GetDataDir() / pathPidFile;
-    }
-    return pathPidFile;
+    return AbsPathForConfigVal(
+        fs::path(gArgs.GetArg("-pid", BITCOIN_PID_FILENAME)));
 }
 
 void CreatePidFile(const fs::path &path, pid_t pid) {
@@ -1314,3 +1307,7 @@
 int64_t GetStartupTime() {
     return nStartupTime;
 }
+
+fs::path AbsPathForConfigVal(const fs::path &path, bool net_specific) {
+    return fs::absolute(path, GetDataDir(net_specific));
+}