diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index b0651c6a8..cf1fc12ee 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -228,8 +228,10 @@ fi
 # hack to define a short filename also for out-of-tree build
 if test `dirname $0` = `pwd`; then
 	HWLIB_CFLAGS="$HWLIB_CFLAGS "'-D__file__=__FILE__'
+	HWLIB_CFLAGS="$HWLIB_CFLAGS "'-D__path_file__=__FILE__'
 else
 	HWLIB_CFLAGS="$HWLIB_CFLAGS "'-D__file__="\"$(subst $(srcdir)/,,$(abspath $<))\""'
+	HWLIB_CFLAGS="$HWLIB_CFLAGS "'-D__path_file__="\"$(subst $(top_srcdir)/,,$(abspath $<))\""'
 fi
 #
 # Check for libtdservicedb - the new one - for testing only