diff --git a/go/cmd/gitlab-shell/main.go b/go/cmd/gitlab-shell/main.go
index ae541518757bcb4d5ddc35af9131b315fa189d75..640eba1f1e81a3444f3d1a629457f488be600366 100644
--- a/go/cmd/gitlab-shell/main.go
+++ b/go/cmd/gitlab-shell/main.go
@@ -12,11 +12,15 @@ import (
 var (
 	binDir  string
 	rootDir string
+	initErr error
 )
 
 func init() {
-	binDir = filepath.Dir(os.Args[0])
-	rootDir = filepath.Dir(binDir)
+	ex, initErr := os.Executable()
+	if initErr == nil {
+		binDir = filepath.Dir(ex)
+		rootDir = filepath.Dir(binDir)
+	}
 }
 
 func migrate(*config.Config) (int, bool) {
@@ -38,6 +42,10 @@ func execRuby() {
 }
 
 func main() {
+	if initErr != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "Failed to determine configuration file or ruby executable paths, exiting")
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
 	// Fall back to Ruby in case of problems reading the config, but issue a
 	// warning as this isn't something we can sustain indefinitely
 	config, err := config.NewFromDir(rootDir)