diff --git a/arc/main.py b/arc/main.py
index dccafe23e9..a496111aa5 100644
--- a/arc/main.py
+++ b/arc/main.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
                         ARC_PATH,
                         check_ess_settings,
                         delete_check_files,
+                        fill_in_the_blanks,
                         get_logger,
                         globalize_path,
                         initialize_job_types,
@@ -276,6 +277,7 @@ def __init__(self,
         self.verbose = verbose
         self.project_directory = project_directory if project_directory is not None \
             else os.path.join(ARC_PATH, 'Projects', self.project)
+        self.project_directory = fill_in_the_blanks(self.project_directory)
         if not os.path.exists(self.project_directory):
             os.makedirs(self.project_directory)
         self.output = output