diff --git a/Smarty.class.php b/Smarty.class.php
index 5c1267c0..7d2d5908 100644
--- a/Smarty.class.php
+++ b/Smarty.class.php
@@ -175,11 +175,6 @@ class Smarty
                 }
             }
         }
-
-        /* Prepare the configuration object. */
-        if (!class_exists('Config_File'))
-            include_once dirname(__FILE__) . '/Config_File.class.php';
-        $this->_conf_obj = new Config_File($this->config_dir);
     }
 
 
@@ -498,6 +493,14 @@ class Smarty
             }
         }
 
+        if ($this->_conf_obj === null) {
+            /* Prepare the configuration object. */
+            if (!class_exists('Config_File'))
+                include_once dirname(__FILE__) . '/Config_File.class.php';
+            $this->_conf_obj = new Config_File($this->config_dir);
+        } else
+            $this->_conf_obj->set_path($this->config_dir);
+
         extract($this->_tpl_vars);
 
         if ($this->show_info_header) {
diff --git a/libs/Smarty.class.php b/libs/Smarty.class.php
index 5c1267c0..7d2d5908 100644
--- a/libs/Smarty.class.php
+++ b/libs/Smarty.class.php
@@ -175,11 +175,6 @@ class Smarty
                 }
             }
         }
-
-        /* Prepare the configuration object. */
-        if (!class_exists('Config_File'))
-            include_once dirname(__FILE__) . '/Config_File.class.php';
-        $this->_conf_obj = new Config_File($this->config_dir);
     }
 
 
@@ -498,6 +493,14 @@ class Smarty
             }
         }
 
+        if ($this->_conf_obj === null) {
+            /* Prepare the configuration object. */
+            if (!class_exists('Config_File'))
+                include_once dirname(__FILE__) . '/Config_File.class.php';
+            $this->_conf_obj = new Config_File($this->config_dir);
+        } else
+            $this->_conf_obj->set_path($this->config_dir);
+
         extract($this->_tpl_vars);
 
         if ($this->show_info_header) {