diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/ui_config.cc b/gtk2_ardour/ui_config.cc
index bc3109ea55..7a4359d61d 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/ui_config.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/ui_config.cc
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ UIConfiguration::load_defaults ()
 
 		// info << string_compose (_("Loading default ui configuration file %1"), rcfile) << endl;
 
-		if (!tree.read (default_ui_config_file_name)) {
+		if (!tree.read (rcfile)) {
 			error << string_compose(_("cannot read default ui configuration file \"%1\""), rcfile) << endmsg;
 			return -1;
 		}