diff --git a/core/io/pathnames/pathnames.factor b/core/io/pathnames/pathnames.factor
index 2d382e49d1..d4d9228d6c 100644
--- a/core/io/pathnames/pathnames.factor
+++ b/core/io/pathnames/pathnames.factor
@@ -144,7 +144,10 @@ GENERIC: vocab-path ( path -- newpath )
 GENERIC: absolute-path ( path -- path' )
 
 M: string absolute-path
-    "resource:" ?head [
+    "resource:work" ?head [
+        trim-head-separators "/var/lib/factor" prepend-path
+        absolute-path ]
+    [ "resource:" ?head [
         trim-head-separators resource-path
         absolute-path
     ] [
@@ -158,6 +161,7 @@ M: string absolute-path
         ] [
             current-directory get prepend-path
         ] if ] if
+      ] if
     ] if ;
 
 M: object normalize-path ( path -- path' )