diff --git a/dspace-swordv2/dspace-swordv2-webapp/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml b/dspace-swordv2/dspace-swordv2-webapp/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml
index 44183c2aec..5ec371daa2 100644
--- a/dspace-swordv2/dspace-swordv2-webapp/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml
+++ b/dspace-swordv2/dspace-swordv2-webapp/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/web.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,16 @@
 		<description>
 			The location of the main DSpace configuration file
 		</description>
-	</context-param>
+    </context-param>
+
+    <!-- new ConfigurationService initialization for dspace.dir -->
+    <context-param>
+        <description>
+            The location of the main DSpace configuration file
+        </description>
+        <param-name>dspace.dir</param-name>
+        <param-value>${dspace.dir}</param-value>
+    </context-param>
 
 	<!-- Configuration Information -->