diff --git a/publish b/publish
index 5a33522..48a0939 100755
--- a/publish
+++ b/publish
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 set -o errexit -o nounset -o pipefail
 
-EXEC_DIR="$(dirname "$(realpath --canonicalize-existing)")"
+EXEC_DIR="$(dirname "$(realpath --canonicalize-existing "$@")")"
 readonly EXEC_DIR
 
 readonly IMAGE_NAME=cyverse/irods