diff --git a/apps/emqx/src/emqx_config.erl b/apps/emqx/src/emqx_config.erl
index f3e6e1366..b2154b429 100644
--- a/apps/emqx/src/emqx_config.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx/src/emqx_config.erl
@@ -264,6 +264,7 @@ init_load(SchemaMod, Conf) when is_list(Conf) orelse is_binary(Conf) ->
         {error, Reason} ->
             ?SLOG(error, #{msg => failed_to_load_hocon_conf,
                            reason => Reason,
+                           pwd => file:get_cwd(),
                            include_dirs => IncDir
                           }),
             error(failed_to_load_hocon_conf)
@@ -280,7 +281,7 @@ init_load(SchemaMod, RawConf) when is_map(RawConf) ->
                             maps:with(RootNames, RawConfWithEnvs)).
 
 include_dirs() ->
-    [filename:join(emqx:data_dir(), "configs")].
+    [filename:join(emqx:data_dir(), "configs") ++ "/"].
 
 merge_envs(SchemaMod, RawConf) ->
     Opts = #{logger => fun(_, _) -> ok end, %% everything should have been logged already when check_config