diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/de/hoennig/werkator/commands/InitCommand.kt b/src/main/kotlin/de/hoennig/werkator/commands/InitCommand.kt
index a824341..f3c86f7 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/de/hoennig/werkator/commands/InitCommand.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/de/hoennig/werkator/commands/InitCommand.kt
@@ -297,20 +297,25 @@ class InitCommand(
      * already loadable (re-running `init --systemd` on an installed instance); during
      * the very first bootstrap they stay unset and the defaults (no directives) apply.
      */
-    private fun loadedSystemdConfig(): de.hoennig.werkator.config.SystemdConfig = loadedServerConfig().systemd
+    private fun loadedSystemdConfig(root: Path): de.hoennig.werkator.config.SystemdConfig = loadedServerConfig(root).systemd
 
     /** Loaded once per run, so a broken configuration is reported once and not per caller. */
     private var cachedServerConfig: de.hoennig.werkator.config.ServerConfig? = null
 
     /**
+     * Read from the repository root like every other file this command touches — the
+     * layers sit there, not in whatever directory the process happens to run in, and
+     * an applied fragment must reach the generated unit even when `init` is invoked
+     * from a subdirectory.
+     *
      * A configuration error here is not fatal — the units are still generated with defaults —
      * but it must not pass for "nothing configured": without the warning a broken `.werkator.yml`
      * looks exactly like an unset `publicBaseUrl` and the host integration is skipped silently.
      */
-    private fun loadedServerConfig(): de.hoennig.werkator.config.ServerConfig =
+    private fun loadedServerConfig(root: Path): de.hoennig.werkator.config.ServerConfig =
         cachedServerConfig ?: run {
             try {
-                configLoader.load(Paths.get(".")).server
+                configLoader.load(root).server
             } catch (e: Exception) {
                 println("Warning: the effective configuration could not be loaded (${e.message})")
                 println("  continuing with default server settings — check the generated unit and host files")
@@ -340,8 +345,8 @@ class InitCommand(
                 javaExecutable = javaExecutableResolver(),
                 jarPath = jarPath,
                 envFile = envFile,
-                memoryMax = loadedSystemdConfig().memoryMax,
-                tasksMax = loadedSystemdConfig().tasksMax,
+                memoryMax = loadedSystemdConfig(root).memoryMax,
+                tasksMax = loadedSystemdConfig(root).tasksMax,
             ),
         )
         println("created ${unitFile.toFile().relativeTo(normalizedWorkingDir.toFile())}")
@@ -364,7 +369,7 @@ class InitCommand(
 
         // generated host integration like the units: only meaningful behind a web
         // frontend, so it needs a public base URL; unused elsewhere and harmless
-        val server = loadedServerConfig()
+        val server = loadedServerConfig(root)
         if (server.publicBaseUrl.isNotBlank()) {
             val htaccessFile = werkatorDir.resolve(SystemdServiceFiles.HTACCESS_NAME)
             htaccessFile.toFile().writeText(SystemdServiceFiles.htaccessContent(server.port))
diff --git a/src/test/kotlin/de/hoennig/werkator/commands/InitCommandTest.kt b/src/test/kotlin/de/hoennig/werkator/commands/InitCommandTest.kt
index 2d16448..a2f289f 100644
--- a/src/test/kotlin/de/hoennig/werkator/commands/InitCommandTest.kt
+++ b/src/test/kotlin/de/hoennig/werkator/commands/InitCommandTest.kt
@@ -253,6 +253,29 @@ class InitCommandTest : FunSpec() {
             initCommand.run()
         }
 
+        test("--systemd reads the configuration from the repository root, not the current directory") {
+            val tempDir = Files.createTempDirectory("werkator-init-test")
+            // written before the run, so `init` keeps it instead of creating a template
+            tempDir.resolve(".werkator.yml").toFile().writeText(
+                "server:\n  publicBaseUrl: \"https://werkator.example.org/\"\n  port: 18099\n",
+            )
+            initCommand.workingDir = tempDir
+            initCommand.systemd = true
+            initCommand.jarPathResolver = { Paths.get("/home/ci/bin/werkator.jar") }
+            initCommand.javaExecutableResolver = { Paths.get("/usr/bin/java") }
+
+            every { gitService.getTopLevel(tempDir) } returns tempDir
+            every { gitService.getOriginUrl(tempDir) } returns "https://git.example.org/my-org/my-repo.git"
+
+            initCommand.run()
+
+            // the host integration is generated only when the root's config has a public base URL
+            val htaccess = tempDir.resolve(".git/werkator/${SystemdServiceFiles.HTACCESS_NAME}")
+            htaccess.toFile().shouldExist()
+            htaccess.toFile().readText() shouldContain "18099"
+            tempDir.resolve(".git/werkator/${SystemdServiceFiles.MAINTENANCE_PAGE_NAME}").toFile().shouldExist()
+        }
+
         test("--systemd warns once when the effective configuration cannot be loaded") {
             val tempDir = Files.createTempDirectory("werkator-init-test")
             val brokenLoader = mockk<de.hoennig.werkator.config.ConfigLoader>()