diff --git a/lib/debug/config.rb b/lib/debug/config.rb
index 8b176ae09..6253cf8bb 100644
--- a/lib/debug/config.rb
+++ b/lib/debug/config.rb
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ def self.parse_config_value name, valstr
           if /\A\/(.+)\/\z/ =~ e
             Regexp.compile $1
           else
-            e
+            File.expand_path(e)
           end
         }
       else
diff --git a/lib/debug/frame_info.rb b/lib/debug/frame_info.rb
index 632a83bd1..3f78dcb4f 100644
--- a/lib/debug/frame_info.rb
+++ b/lib/debug/frame_info.rb
@@ -115,6 +115,11 @@ def return_str
       end
     end
 
+    def real_location
+      # realpath can sometimes be nil so we can't use it here
+      "#{path}:#{location.lineno}"
+    end
+
     def location_str
       "#{pretty_path}:#{location.lineno}"
     end
diff --git a/lib/debug/session.rb b/lib/debug/session.rb
index db29bd1e6..7e2318482 100644
--- a/lib/debug/session.rb
+++ b/lib/debug/session.rb
@@ -2024,11 +2024,13 @@ class << self
   end
 
   def self.load_rc
-    [[File.expand_path('~/.rdbgrc'), true],
-     [File.expand_path('~/.rdbgrc.rb'), true],
-     # ['./.rdbgrc', true], # disable because of security concern
-     [CONFIG[:init_script], false],
-     ].each{|(path, rc)|
+    [
+      [File.expand_path('~/.rdbgrc'), true],
+      [File.expand_path('~/.rdbgrc.rb'), true],
+      [File.join(Dir.pwd, '.rdbgrc'), true],
+      [File.join(Dir.pwd, '.rdbgrc.rb'), true],
+      [CONFIG[:init_script], false],
+    ].each{|(path, rc)|
       next unless path
       next if rc && CONFIG[:no_rc] # ignore rc
 
diff --git a/lib/debug/thread_client.rb b/lib/debug/thread_client.rb
index e9475c460..45b722723 100644
--- a/lib/debug/thread_client.rb
+++ b/lib/debug/thread_client.rb
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ module SkipPathHelper
     def skip_path?(path)
       CONFIG.skip? || !path ||
       skip_internal_path?(path) ||
+      skip_config_skip_path?(path)
+    end
+
+    def skip_config_skip_path?(path)
       (skip_paths = CONFIG[:skip_path]) && skip_paths.any?{|skip_path| path.match?(skip_path)}
     end
 
@@ -652,15 +656,11 @@ def show_frames max = nil, pattern = nil
       if @target_frames && (max ||= @target_frames.size) > 0
         frames = []
         @target_frames.each_with_index{|f, i|
-          next if pattern && !(f.name.match?(pattern) || f.location_str.match?(pattern))
-          next if CONFIG[:skip_path] && CONFIG[:skip_path].any?{|pat|
-            case pat
-            when String
-              f.location_str.start_with?(pat)
-            when Regexp
-              f.location_str.match?(pat)
-            end
-          }
+          # we need to use FrameInfo#real_location because #location_str is for display
+          # and it may change based on configs (e.g. use_short_path)
+          next if pattern && !(f.name.match?(pattern) || f.real_location.match?(pattern))
+          # avoid using skip_path? because we still want to display internal frames
+          next if skip_config_skip_path?(f.real_location)
 
           frames << [i, f]
         }
diff --git a/test/console/backtrace_test.rb b/test/console/backtrace_test.rb
index 9d6697cda..cb1247ab7 100644
--- a/test/console/backtrace_test.rb
+++ b/test/console/backtrace_test.rb
@@ -114,6 +114,27 @@ def test_backtrace_takes_both_number_and_pattern
         type 'q!'
       end
     end
+
+    def test_frame_filtering_works_with_unexpanded_path_and_expanded_skip_path
+      foo_file = 'class Foo; def bar; debugger; end; end'
+      program = <<~RUBY
+       1| load "~/foo.rb"
+       2| Foo.new.bar
+      RUBY
+
+      debug_code(program) do
+        type "file = File.open('#{pty_home_dir}/foo.rb', 'w+') { |f| f.write('#{foo_file}') }"
+        type 'c'
+        type 'bt'
+        assert_line_text(/Foo#bar/)
+        assert_line_text(/~\/foo\.rb/)
+        type "DEBUGGER__::CONFIG[:skip_path] = '#{pty_home_dir}/foo.rb'"
+        type 'bt'
+        assert_no_line_text(/Foo#bar/) # ~/foo.rb should match foo.rb's absolute path and be skipped
+        assert_no_line_text(/~\/foo\.rb/)
+        type 'c'
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   class BlockTraceTest < ConsoleTestCase
diff --git a/test/console/config_test.rb b/test/console/config_test.rb
index ea08f2cd6..a284d8642 100644
--- a/test/console/config_test.rb
+++ b/test/console/config_test.rb
@@ -274,6 +274,17 @@ def test_skip_path_skip_catch_breakpoint
         type 'c'
       end
     end
+
+    def test_skip_path_expands_the_path
+      debug_code do
+        type "config set skip_path ~/test.rb"
+        type "config skip_path"
+        # we can't do direct compare using the expanded absolute paths here
+        # because GH Action doesn't allow modifying HOME path and the result will be different between there and local
+        assert_no_line_text /~\//
+        type "q!"
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   class ConfigKeepAllocSiteTest < ConsoleTestCase
diff --git a/test/support/console_test_case.rb b/test/support/console_test_case.rb
index 390e1f092..79d774129 100644
--- a/test/support/console_test_case.rb
+++ b/test/support/console_test_case.rb
@@ -9,6 +9,32 @@ class ConsoleTestCase < TestCase
       warn "Tests on local and remote. You can disable remote tests with RUBY_DEBUG_TEST_NO_REMOTE=1."
     end
 
+    class << self
+      attr_reader :pty_home_dir
+
+      def startup
+        @pty_home_dir =
+          if ENV["CI"]
+            # CIs usually doesn't allow overriding the HOME path
+            # we also don't need to worry about adding or being affected by ~/.rdbgrc on CI
+            # so we can just use the original home page there
+            Dir.home
+          else
+            Dir.mktmpdir
+          end
+      end
+
+      def shutdown
+        unless ENV["CI"]
+          FileUtils.remove_entry @pty_home_dir
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    def pty_home_dir
+      self.class.pty_home_dir
+    end
+
     def create_message fail_msg, test_info
       debugger_msg = <<~DEBUGGER_MSG.chomp
         --------------------
diff --git a/test/support/test_case.rb b/test/support/test_case.rb
index da7038337..83aa70657 100644
--- a/test/support/test_case.rb
+++ b/test/support/test_case.rb
@@ -22,18 +22,6 @@ class TestCase < Test::Unit::TestCase
 
     include AssertionHelpers
 
-    class << self
-      attr_reader :pty_home_dir
-
-      def startup
-        @pty_home_dir = Dir.mktmpdir
-      end
-
-      def shutdown
-        FileUtils.remove_entry @pty_home_dir
-      end
-    end
-
     def setup
       @temp_file = nil
     end
@@ -42,10 +30,6 @@ def teardown
       remove_temp_file
     end
 
-    def pty_home_dir
-      self.class.pty_home_dir
-    end
-
     def temp_file_path
       @temp_file.path
     end