diff --git a/server/modules/filter/cache/cachefilter.cc b/server/modules/filter/cache/cachefilter.cc
index d01db8ecb..84990b71d 100644
--- a/server/modules/filter/cache/cachefilter.cc
+++ b/server/modules/filter/cache/cachefilter.cc
@@ -315,35 +315,11 @@ bool CacheFilter::process_params(char **pzOptions, CONFIG_PARAMETER *ppParams, C
         error = true;
     }
 
-    const CONFIG_PARAMETER *pParam = config_get_param(ppParams, "rules");
+    config.rules = config_copy_string(ppParams, "rules");
+
+    const CONFIG_PARAMETER *pParam = config_get_param(ppParams, "storage_options");
 
     if (pParam)
-    {
-        if (*pParam->value == '/')
-        {
-            config.rules = MXS_STRDUP(pParam->value);
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            const char* datadir = get_datadir();
-            size_t len = strlen(datadir) + 1 + strlen(pParam->value) + 1;
-
-            char *rules = (char*)MXS_MALLOC(len);
-
-            if (rules)
-            {
-                sprintf(rules, "%s/%s", datadir, pParam->value);
-                config.rules = rules;
-            }
-        }
-
-        if (!config.rules)
-        {
-            error = true;
-        }
-    }
-
-    if ((pParam = config_get_param(ppParams, "storage_options")))
     {
         config.storage_options = MXS_STRDUP(pParam->value);
 
diff --git a/server/modules/filter/masking/maskingfilter.cc b/server/modules/filter/masking/maskingfilter.cc
index 710cc44b6..7895a4c22 100644
--- a/server/modules/filter/masking/maskingfilter.cc
+++ b/server/modules/filter/masking/maskingfilter.cc
@@ -181,16 +181,6 @@ void MaskingFilter::reload(DCB* pOut)
 // static
 void MaskingFilter::process_params(char **pzOptions, CONFIG_PARAMETER *pParams, Config& config)
 {
-    const char *value = config_get_string(pParams, "rules_file");
-    string rules_file;
-
-    if (*value != '/')
-    {
-        // A relative path is interpreted relative to the data directory.
-        rules_file += get_datadir();
-        rules_file += "/";
-    }
-
-    rules_file += value;
+    string rules_file = config_get_string(pParams, "rules_file");
     config.set_rules_file(rules_file);
 }