diff --git a/nipype/utils/profiler.py b/nipype/utils/profiler.py
index d8ec32ffe3..6380711baf 100644
--- a/nipype/utils/profiler.py
+++ b/nipype/utils/profiler.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 from __future__ import (print_function, division, unicode_literals,
                         absolute_import)
 
+import os
 import threading
 from time import time
 try:
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ def __init__(self, pid, freq=5, fname=None, python=True):
 
         if fname is None:
             fname = '.proc-%d_time-%s_freq-%0.2f' % (pid, time(), freq)
-        self._fname = fname
+        self._fname = os.path.abspath(fname)
         self._logfile = open(self._fname, 'w')
         self._freq = freq
         self._python = python