diff --git a/base/initdefs.jl b/base/initdefs.jl
index 479f3bd4479d25..be6cf5a409aae3 100644
--- a/base/initdefs.jl
+++ b/base/initdefs.jl
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ function init_load_path()
     HOME_PROJECT[] =
         project === nothing ? nothing :
         project == "" ? nothing :
-        project == "@." ? current_project() : abspath(project)
+        project == "@." ? current_project() : abspath(expanduser(project))
     append!(empty!(LOAD_PATH), paths)
 end
 
diff --git a/src/init.c b/src/init.c
index 5f97d46a0b8e3f..2a26a53cd11477 100644
--- a/src/init.c
+++ b/src/init.c
@@ -625,11 +625,6 @@ static void jl_resolve_sysimg_location(JL_IMAGE_SEARCH rel)
         jl_options.outputbc = abspath(jl_options.outputbc, 0);
     if (jl_options.machine_file)
         jl_options.machine_file = abspath(jl_options.machine_file, 0);
-    if (jl_options.project
-            && strcmp(jl_options.project, "@.") != 0
-            && strcmp(jl_options.project, "@") != 0
-            && strcmp(jl_options.project, "") != 0)
-        jl_options.project = abspath(jl_options.project, 0);
     if (jl_options.output_code_coverage)
         jl_options.output_code_coverage = absformat(jl_options.output_code_coverage);