diff --git a/lib/application.js b/lib/application.js
index 36cc31df02..340f0c0b67 100644
--- a/lib/application.js
+++ b/lib/application.js
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ app.defaultConfiguration = function(){
   this.locals.settings = this.settings;
 
   // default configuration
+  this.set('views', process.cwd() + '/views');
   this.set('jsonp callback name', 'callback');
 
   this.configure('development', function(){
@@ -484,9 +485,9 @@ app.render = function(name, options, fn){
   // view
   if (!view) {
     view = new View(name, {
-        defaultEngine: this.get('view engine')
-      , root: this.get('views') || process.cwd() + '/views'
-      , engines: engines
+      defaultEngine: this.get('view engine'),
+      root: this.get('views'),
+      engines: engines
     });
 
     if (!view.path) {