diff --git a/samt-config/src/main/kotlin/tools/samt/config/SamtConfigurationParser.kt b/samt-config/src/main/kotlin/tools/samt/config/SamtConfigurationParser.kt
index 871877bb..fcba4c7b 100644
--- a/samt-config/src/main/kotlin/tools/samt/config/SamtConfigurationParser.kt
+++ b/samt-config/src/main/kotlin/tools/samt/config/SamtConfigurationParser.kt
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package tools.samt.config
 import com.charleskorn.kaml.*
 import kotlinx.serialization.SerializationException
 import java.nio.file.Path
+import kotlin.io.path.Path
 import kotlin.io.path.exists
 import kotlin.io.path.inputStream
 import tools.samt.common.DiagnosticSeverity as CommonDiagnosticSeverity
@@ -37,7 +38,8 @@ object SamtConfigurationParser {
             SamtConfiguration()
         }
 
-        val projectDirectory = path.parent
+        // a single component relative path like "samt.yaml" will return null as parent, fallback to working directory
+        val projectDirectory = path.parent ?: Path("")
 
         return CommonSamtConfiguration(
             source = projectDirectory.resolve(parsedConfiguration.source).normalize(),
diff --git a/samt-config/src/test/kotlin/tools/samt/config/SamtConfigurationParserTest.kt b/samt-config/src/test/kotlin/tools/samt/config/SamtConfigurationParserTest.kt
index 5abfbf77..eb5ba449 100644
--- a/samt-config/src/test/kotlin/tools/samt/config/SamtConfigurationParserTest.kt
+++ b/samt-config/src/test/kotlin/tools/samt/config/SamtConfigurationParserTest.kt
@@ -2,9 +2,7 @@ package tools.samt.config
 
 import com.charleskorn.kaml.YamlException
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.assertThrows
-import kotlin.io.path.Path
-import kotlin.io.path.exists
-import kotlin.io.path.isDirectory
+import kotlin.io.path.*
 import kotlin.test.BeforeTest
 import kotlin.test.Test
 import kotlin.test.assertEquals
@@ -143,4 +141,31 @@ class SamtConfigurationParserTest {
             exception.message
         )
     }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `single component relative path works`() {
+        val configPath = Path("samt-minimal.yaml")
+        try {
+            testDirectory.resolve("samt-minimal.yaml").copyTo(configPath, overwrite = true)
+            val samtConfiguration = SamtConfigurationParser.parseConfiguration(configPath)
+            assertEquals(
+                tools.samt.common.SamtConfiguration(
+                    source = Path("src"),
+                    plugins = emptyList(),
+                    generators = listOf(
+                        tools.samt.common.SamtGeneratorConfiguration(
+                            name = "samt-kotlin-ktor",
+                            output = Path("out"),
+                            options = mapOf(
+                                "addPrefixToKotlinPackage" to "com.company.samt.generated",
+                            )
+                        )
+                    )
+                ),
+                samtConfiguration
+            )
+        } finally {
+            configPath.deleteIfExists()
+        }
+    }
 }