diff --git a/src/calibre/web/feeds/news.py b/src/calibre/web/feeds/news.py
index 869799f6bb..168ed6c5ab 100644
--- a/src/calibre/web/feeds/news.py
+++ b/src/calibre/web/feeds/news.py
@@ -583,7 +583,7 @@ class BasicNewsRecipe(Recipe):
             self.title = unicode(self.title, 'utf-8', 'replace')
 
         self.debug = options.verbose > 1
-        self.output_dir = os.getcwd()
+        self.output_dir = os.path.abspath(os.getcwdu())
         self.verbose = options.verbose
         self.test = options.test
         self.username = options.username
@@ -594,7 +594,6 @@ class BasicNewsRecipe(Recipe):
         if self.touchscreen:
             self.template_css += self.output_profile.touchscreen_news_css
 
-        self.output_dir = os.path.abspath(self.output_dir)
         if options.test:
             self.max_articles_per_feed = 2
             self.simultaneous_downloads = min(4, self.simultaneous_downloads)