diff --git a/kas/config.py b/kas/config.py
index b0a20ab..236d106 100644
--- a/kas/config.py
+++ b/kas/config.py
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ class Config:
                                        'must be outside of versioning control')
         else:
             self.filenames = [os.path.join(ctx.kas_work_dir, CONFIG_YAML_FILE)]
-            self.top_repo_path = os.getcwd()
+            self.top_repo_path = Repo.get_root_path(ctx.kas_work_dir)
 
         self.handler = IncludeHandler(self.filenames, self.top_repo_path)
         self.repo_dict = self._get_repo_dict()
diff --git a/kas/libkas.py b/kas/libkas.py
index 33cbf18..4801d32 100644
--- a/kas/libkas.py
+++ b/kas/libkas.py
@@ -378,9 +378,8 @@ def ssh_no_host_key_check():
 
 def setup_parser_common_args(parser):
     parser.add_argument('config',
-                        help='Config file, using .config.yaml if none is '
-                        'specified and using the current directory as '
-                        'repository anchor',
+                        help='Config file, using .config.yaml in KAS_WORK_DIR '
+                        'if none is specified',
                         nargs='?')
     parser.add_argument('--skip',
                         help='Skip build steps',