diff --git a/cli/lightning-cli.c b/cli/lightning-cli.c
index 99fd8ed0a..647fefc7d 100644
--- a/cli/lightning-cli.c
+++ b/cli/lightning-cli.c
@@ -392,12 +392,13 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	int fd, i;
 	size_t off;
 	const char *method;
-	char *cmd, *resp, *idstr, *rpc_filename;
+	char *cmd, *resp, *idstr;
 	struct sockaddr_un addr;
 	jsmntok_t *toks;
 	const jsmntok_t *result, *error, *id;
-	char *lightning_dir;
 	const tal_t *ctx = tal(NULL, char);
+	char *lightning_dir = default_configdir(ctx);
+	char *rpc_filename = default_rpcfile(ctx);
 	jsmn_parser parser;
 	int parserr;
 	enum format format = DEFAULT_FORMAT;
@@ -409,7 +410,14 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	jsmn_init(&parser);
 
 	opt_set_alloc(opt_allocfn, tal_reallocfn, tal_freefn);
-	configdir_register_opts(ctx, &lightning_dir, &rpc_filename);
+
+	opt_register_arg("--lightning-dir=<dir>", opt_set_talstr, opt_show_charp,
+			 &lightning_dir,
+			 "Set working directory. All other files are relative to this");
+
+	opt_register_arg("--rpc-file", opt_set_talstr, opt_show_charp,
+			 &rpc_filename,
+			 "Set JSON-RPC socket (or /dev/tty)");
 
 	opt_register_noarg("--help|-h", opt_usage_and_exit,
 			   "<command> [<params>...]", "Show this message. Use the command help (without hyphens -- \"lightning-cli help\") to get a list of all RPC commands");
diff --git a/common/configdir.c b/common/configdir.c
index b8584d8a3..3088169c2 100644
--- a/common/configdir.c
+++ b/common/configdir.c
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ char *opt_set_talstr(const char *arg, char **p)
 	return opt_set_charp(tal_strdup(NULL, arg), p);
 }
 
-static char *default_configdir(const tal_t *ctx)
+char *default_configdir(const tal_t *ctx)
 {
 	char *path;
 	const char *env = getenv("HOME");
@@ -22,17 +22,7 @@ static char *default_configdir(const tal_t *ctx)
 	return path;
 }
 
-void configdir_register_opts(const tal_t *ctx,
-			     char **configdir, char **rpc_filename)
+char *default_rpcfile(const tal_t *ctx)
 {
-	*configdir = default_configdir(ctx);
-	*rpc_filename =	tal_strdup(ctx, "lightning-rpc");
-
-	opt_register_early_arg("--lightning-dir=<dir>", opt_set_talstr, opt_show_charp,
-			       configdir,
-			       "Set working directory. All other files are relative to this");
-
-	opt_register_arg("--rpc-file", opt_set_talstr, opt_show_charp,
-			 rpc_filename,
-			 "Set JSON-RPC socket (or /dev/tty)");
+	return tal_strdup(ctx, "lightning-rpc");
 }
diff --git a/common/configdir.h b/common/configdir.h
index 5c7971ebb..9bd3f8d51 100644
--- a/common/configdir.h
+++ b/common/configdir.h
@@ -6,7 +6,10 @@
 /* Helper for options which are tal() strings. */
 char *opt_set_talstr(const char *arg, char **p);
 
-void configdir_register_opts(const tal_t *ctx,
-			     char **config_dir, char **rpc_filename);
+/* The default configuration dir: ~/.lightning */
+char *default_configdir(const tal_t *ctx);
+
+/* The default rpc filename: lightning-rpc */
+char *default_rpcfile(const tal_t *ctx);
 
 #endif /* LIGHTNING_COMMON_CONFIGDIR_H */
diff --git a/lightningd/options.c b/lightningd/options.c
index 8ac418b2e..920605d72 100644
--- a/lightningd/options.c
+++ b/lightningd/options.c
@@ -836,6 +836,10 @@ void register_opts(struct lightningd *ld)
 {
 	opt_set_alloc(opt_allocfn, tal_reallocfn, tal_freefn);
 
+	ld->rpc_filename = default_rpcfile(ld);
+	opt_register_arg("--rpc-file", opt_set_talstr, opt_show_charp,
+			 &ld->rpc_filename,
+			 "Set JSON-RPC socket (or /dev/tty)");
 	opt_register_noarg("--help|-h", opt_lightningd_usage, ld,
 				 "Print this message.");
 	opt_register_early_noarg("--test-daemons-only",
@@ -878,7 +882,6 @@ void register_opts(struct lightningd *ld)
 	opt_register_logging(ld);
 	opt_register_version();
 
-	configdir_register_opts(ld, &ld->config_dir, &ld->rpc_filename);
 	config_register_opts(ld);
 #if DEVELOPER
 	dev_register_opts(ld);
@@ -942,6 +945,11 @@ void handle_early_opts(struct lightningd *ld, int argc, char *argv[])
 	 * later by opt_parse_from_config. */
 	setup_default_config(ld);
 
+	ld->config_dir = default_configdir(ld);
+	opt_register_early_arg("--lightning-dir=<dir>", opt_set_talstr, opt_show_charp,
+			       &ld->config_dir,
+			       "Set working directory. All other files are relative to this");
+
 	/* Get any configdir/testnet options first. */
 	opt_early_parse_incomplete(argc, argv, opt_log_stderr_exit);