diff --git a/src/mpsd_software_manager/mpsd_software.py b/src/mpsd_software_manager/mpsd_software.py
index 9e06e8ddb9f210f0ba383c8581b595e8f678b77b..7121469e5cc6cddd09edfe2e0a1b0487fb68cc25 100755
--- a/src/mpsd_software_manager/mpsd_software.py
+++ b/src/mpsd_software_manager/mpsd_software.py
@@ -1111,7 +1111,7 @@ def initialize_environment(root_dir: Path) -> None:
         # record the msg in the log file
         record_script_execution_summary(
             root_dir=root_dir,
-            msg=f"Initialising MPSD software instance at {os.getcwd()}.",
+            msg=f"Initialising MPSD software instance at {root_dir}.",
         )
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_mpsd_software.py b/tests/test_mpsd_software.py
index 73ef4b1b541a45f383ff4809835d65cd8c77442b..3ebd1fd69982ebb3883ac1ebd99eca4c3a46e8ed 100644
--- a/tests/test_mpsd_software.py
+++ b/tests/test_mpsd_software.py
@@ -527,6 +527,10 @@ def test_initialize_environment(tmp_path):
     init_file = tmp_path / mod.config_vars["init_file"]
 
     assert init_file.exists()
+    # ensure "Initialising MPSD software ..." is in the log file
+    log_file = tmp_path / mod.config_vars["cmd_log_file"]
+    with open(log_file, "r") as f:
+        assert (f"Initialising MPSD software instance at {tmp_path}") in f.read()
 
     # test that calling again results in warning and exit code 1
     with pytest.raises(SystemExit) as pytest_wrapped_e: