diff --git a/ci/setup-cfengine-build-host.sh b/ci/setup-cfengine-build-host.sh
index 36c2da242..cecd21fcc 100755
--- a/ci/setup-cfengine-build-host.sh
+++ b/ci/setup-cfengine-build-host.sh
@@ -216,14 +216,17 @@ tar xf cfengine-masterfiles-"$CFE_VERSION"-1.pkg.tar.gz
 cp -a masterfiles/* /var/cfengine/inputs/
 
 # run three times to ensure all is done
-policy="$(dirname "$0")"/cfengine-build-host-setup.cf
-# just to be sure, make policy read/write for our user only to avoid errors when running
-chmod 600 "$policy"
-/var/cfengine/bin/cf-agent -KIf "$policy" -b cfengine_build_host_setup | tee promises.log
-grep -i error: promises.log && exit 1
-/var/cfengine/bin/cf-agent -KIf "$policy" -b cfengine_build_host_setup | tee -a promises.log
-grep -i error: promises.log && exit 1
-/var/cfengine/bin/cf-agent -KIf "$policy" -b cfengine_build_host_setup | tee -a promises.log
-grep -i error: promises.log && exit 1
+(
+  cd "$thisdir"
+  policy=./cfengine-build-host-setup.cf
+  # just to be sure, make policy read/write for our user only to avoid errors when running
+  chmod 600 "$policy"
+  /var/cfengine/bin/cf-agent -KIf "$policy" -b cfengine_build_host_setup | tee promises.log
+  grep -i error: promises.log && exit 1
+  /var/cfengine/bin/cf-agent -KIf "$policy" -b cfengine_build_host_setup | tee -a promises.log
+  grep -i error: promises.log && exit 1
+  /var/cfengine/bin/cf-agent -KIf "$policy" -b cfengine_build_host_setup | tee -a promises.log
+  grep -i error: promises.log && exit 1
+)
 
 cleanup