diff --git a/apps/emqx/src/emqx.erl b/apps/emqx/src/emqx.erl
index 2c3f4d1c5..bd5bb083d 100644
--- a/apps/emqx/src/emqx.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx/src/emqx.erl
@@ -275,8 +275,9 @@ etc_file(SubPath) ->
     filename:join([etc_dir(), SubPath]).
 
 etc_dir() ->
-    %% EMQX_ETC_DIR is inherited from RUNNER_ETC_DIR which is set at package build time.
-    %% when it's not set, it's most likely when running test cases.
+    %% EMQX_ETC_DIR set by emqx boot script,
+    %% if it's not set, then it must be test environment
+    %% which should uses default path
     Env = os:getenv("EMQX_ETC_DIR"),
     case Env =:= "" orelse Env =:= false of
         true -> "etc";
diff --git a/apps/emqx_conf/src/emqx_conf_schema.erl b/apps/emqx_conf/src/emqx_conf_schema.erl
index 0af6bb97c..ee9e3396b 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_conf/src/emqx_conf_schema.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_conf/src/emqx_conf_schema.erl
@@ -830,7 +830,7 @@ tr_config_files(Conf) ->
         [_ | _] = Files ->
             Files;
         _ ->
-            case os:getenv("RUNNER_ETC_DIR") of
+            case os:getenv("EMQX_ETC_DIR") of
                 false ->
                     [filename:join([code:lib_dir(emqx), "etc", "emqx.conf"])];
                 Dir ->
diff --git a/bin/emqx b/bin/emqx
index 6708739c4..a7fad3589 100755
--- a/bin/emqx
+++ b/bin/emqx
@@ -15,17 +15,10 @@ ROOT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$(readlink "$0" || echo "$0")")"/..; pwd -P)"
 
 # defined in emqx_vars
 export RUNNER_ROOT_DIR
-export RUNNER_ETC_DIR
+export EMQX_ETC_DIR
 export REL_VSN
 export SCHEMA_MOD
 
-# RUNNER_ETC_DIR is only used at boot time
-# EMQX_ETC_DIR is by default RUNNER_ETC_DIR but the absolute path
-# it is used at runtime by the emqx program
-# so that it won't change even if file:set_cwd is evaluated by EMQX later
-EMQX_ETC_DIR="${EMQX_ETC_DIR:-$(cd "$(readlink "$RUNNER_ETC_DIR")"; pwd -P)}"
-export EMQX_ETC_DIR
-
 RUNNER_SCRIPT="$RUNNER_BIN_DIR/$REL_NAME"
 CODE_LOADING_MODE="${CODE_LOADING_MODE:-embedded}"
 REL_DIR="$RUNNER_ROOT_DIR/releases/$REL_VSN"
@@ -362,7 +355,7 @@ call_hocon() {
 
 get_config_value() {
     path_to_value="$1"
-    call_hocon -s "$SCHEMA_MOD" -c "$RUNNER_ETC_DIR"/emqx.conf get "$path_to_value" | tr -d \"
+    call_hocon -s "$SCHEMA_MOD" -c "$EMQX_ETC_DIR"/emqx.conf get "$path_to_value" | tr -d \"
 }
 
 check_license() {
@@ -425,7 +418,7 @@ generate_config() {
     ## NOTE: the generate command merges environment variables to the base config (emqx.conf),
     ## but does not include the cluster-override.conf and local-override.conf
     ## meaning, certain overrides will not be mapped to app.<time>.config file
-    call_hocon -v -t "$NOW_TIME" -s "$SCHEMA_MOD" -c "$RUNNER_ETC_DIR"/emqx.conf -d "$DATA_DIR"/configs generate
+    call_hocon -v -t "$NOW_TIME" -s "$SCHEMA_MOD" -c "$EMQX_ETC_DIR"/emqx.conf -d "$DATA_DIR"/configs generate
 
     ## filenames are per-hocon convention
     local CONF_FILE="$CONFIGS_DIR/app.$NOW_TIME.config"
@@ -440,7 +433,7 @@ generate_config() {
 
     ## Merge hocon generated *.args into the vm.args
     TMP_ARG_FILE="$CONFIGS_DIR/vm.args.tmp"
-    cp "$RUNNER_ETC_DIR/vm.args" "$TMP_ARG_FILE"
+    cp "$EMQX_ETC_DIR/vm.args" "$TMP_ARG_FILE"
     echo "" >> "$TMP_ARG_FILE"
     echo "-pa ${REL_DIR}/consolidated" >> "$TMP_ARG_FILE"
     ## read lines from generated vm.<time>.args file
@@ -656,7 +649,7 @@ if [ -z "$COOKIE" ]; then
 fi
 
 if [ -z "$COOKIE" ]; then
-    die "Please set node.cookie in $RUNNER_ETC_DIR/emqx.conf or override from environment variable EMQX_NODE__COOKIE"
+    die "Please set node.cookie in $EMQX_ETC_DIR/emqx.conf or override from environment variable EMQX_NODE__COOKIE"
 fi
 
 cd "$ROOTDIR"
diff --git a/bin/emqx.cmd b/bin/emqx.cmd
index e64cae494..6d7ec4cda 100644
--- a/bin/emqx.cmd
+++ b/bin/emqx.cmd
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@
 @set "rel_dir=%rel_root_dir%\releases\%rel_vsn%"
 @set "RUNNER_ROOT_DIR=%rel_root_dir%"
 :: hard code etc dir
-@set "RUNNER_ETC_DIR=%rel_root_dir%\etc"
 @set "EMQX_ETC_DIR=%rel_root_dir%\etc"
 @set "etc_dir=%rel_root_dir%\etc"
 @set "lib_dir=%rel_root_dir%\lib"
diff --git a/mix.exs b/mix.exs
index 53abbbef8..7dc393ef2 100644
--- a/mix.exs
+++ b/mix.exs
@@ -539,7 +539,7 @@ defmodule EMQXUmbrella.MixProject do
       platform_plugins_dir: "plugins",
       runner_root_dir: "$(cd $(dirname $(readlink $0 || echo $0))/..; pwd -P)",
       runner_bin_dir: "$RUNNER_ROOT_DIR/bin",
-      runner_etc_dir: "$RUNNER_ROOT_DIR/etc",
+      emqx_etc_dir: "$RUNNER_ROOT_DIR/etc",
       runner_lib_dir: "$RUNNER_ROOT_DIR/lib",
       runner_log_dir: "$RUNNER_ROOT_DIR/log",
       runner_user: "",
@@ -565,7 +565,7 @@ defmodule EMQXUmbrella.MixProject do
       platform_plugins_dir: "/var/lib/emqx/plugins",
       runner_root_dir: "/usr/lib/emqx",
       runner_bin_dir: "/usr/bin",
-      runner_etc_dir: "/etc/emqx",
+      emqx_etc_dir: "/etc/emqx",
       runner_lib_dir: "$RUNNER_ROOT_DIR/lib",
       runner_log_dir: "/var/log/emqx",
       runner_user: "emqx",
diff --git a/rebar.config.erl b/rebar.config.erl
index 8cec4c70c..fc8d6d33b 100644
--- a/rebar.config.erl
+++ b/rebar.config.erl
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ overlay_vars_pkg(bin) ->
     , {platform_plugins_dir, "plugins"}
     , {runner_root_dir, "$(cd $(dirname $(readlink $0 || echo $0))/..; pwd -P)"}
     , {runner_bin_dir, "$RUNNER_ROOT_DIR/bin"}
-    , {runner_etc_dir, "$RUNNER_ROOT_DIR/etc"}
+    , {emqx_etc_dir, "$RUNNER_ROOT_DIR/etc"}
     , {runner_lib_dir, "$RUNNER_ROOT_DIR/lib"}
     , {runner_log_dir, "$RUNNER_ROOT_DIR/log"}
     , {runner_user, ""}
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ overlay_vars_pkg(pkg) ->
     , {platform_plugins_dir, "/var/lib/emqx/plugins"}
     , {runner_root_dir, "/usr/lib/emqx"}
     , {runner_bin_dir, "/usr/bin"}
-    , {runner_etc_dir, "/etc/emqx"}
+    , {emqx_etc_dir, "/etc/emqx"}
     , {runner_lib_dir, "$RUNNER_ROOT_DIR/lib"}
     , {runner_log_dir, "/var/log/emqx"}
     , {runner_user, "emqx"}
diff --git a/rel/emqx_vars b/rel/emqx_vars
index ce50a2c84..fea0e3fb3 100644
--- a/rel/emqx_vars
+++ b/rel/emqx_vars
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ RUNNER_ROOT_DIR="{{ runner_root_dir }}"
 RUNNER_BIN_DIR="{{ runner_bin_dir }}"
 RUNNER_LOG_DIR="{{ runner_log_dir }}"
 RUNNER_LIB_DIR="{{ runner_lib_dir }}"
-RUNNER_ETC_DIR="{{ runner_etc_dir }}"
+EMQX_ETC_DIR="{{ emqx_etc_dir }}"
 RUNNER_USER="{{ runner_user }}"
 IS_ELIXIR="{{ is_elixir }}"
 SCHEMA_MOD="{{ emqx_schema_mod }}"