--- scalpel-1.60/scalpel.c.0conf	2006-12-08 20:22:07.000000000 +0100
+++ scalpel-1.60/scalpel.c	2010-09-01 02:04:26.000000000 +0200
@@ -242,6 +242,12 @@
   char *buffer = malloc((NUM_SEARCH_SPEC_ELEMENTS * MAX_STRING_LENGTH + 1) * sizeof(char));
 
   f = fopen(state->conffile,"r");  
+  if ( (f == NULL) && strcmp(state->conffile, SCALPEL_DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE) ) {
+      strncpy(state->conffile, "/etc/", MAX_STRING_LENGTH);
+      strncat(state->conffile, SCALPEL_DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE, MAX_STRING_LENGTH-strlen(state->conffile));
+      f = fopen(state->conffile,"r");
+  }
+
   if (f == NULL) {
     fprintf (stderr,
 	     "ERROR: Couldn't open configuration file: %s -- %s\n",