diff --git a/server.c b/server.c
index a07fa1fd..ffc25db0 100644
--- a/server.c
+++ b/server.c
@@ -169,13 +169,13 @@ server_start(int lockfd, char *lockfile)
 	cfg_references = 1;
 	ARRAY_INIT(&cfg_causes);
 
-	if (access(SYSTEM_CFG, R_OK) == 0) {
-		if (load_cfg(SYSTEM_CFG, cfg_cmd_q, &cause) == -1) {
-			xasprintf(&cause, "%s: %s", SYSTEM_CFG, cause);
+	if (access(TMUX_CONF, R_OK) == 0) {
+		if (load_cfg(TMUX_CONF, cfg_cmd_q, &cause) == -1) {
+			xasprintf(&cause, "%s: %s", TMUX_CONF, cause);
 			ARRAY_ADD(&cfg_causes, cause);
 		}
 	} else if (errno != ENOENT) {
-		xasprintf(&cause, "%s: %s", SYSTEM_CFG, strerror(errno));
+		xasprintf(&cause, "%s: %s", TMUX_CONF, strerror(errno));
 		ARRAY_ADD(&cfg_causes, cause);
 	}
 	if (cfg_file != NULL) {
diff --git a/tmux.c b/tmux.c
index e9b28d7e..b229967d 100644
--- a/tmux.c
+++ b/tmux.c
@@ -357,7 +357,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 			if (pw != NULL)
 				home = pw->pw_dir;
 		}
-		xasprintf(&cfg_file, "%s/%s", home, DEFAULT_CFG);
+		xasprintf(&cfg_file, "%s/.tmux.conf", home);
 		if (access(cfg_file, R_OK) != 0 && errno == ENOENT) {
 			free(cfg_file);
 			cfg_file = NULL;
diff --git a/tmux.h b/tmux.h
index 8fb06223..7404b27f 100644
--- a/tmux.h
+++ b/tmux.h
@@ -43,9 +43,8 @@
 extern char    *__progname;
 extern char   **environ;
 
-/* Default configuration files. */
-#define DEFAULT_CFG ".tmux.conf"
-#define SYSTEM_CFG "/etc/tmux.conf"
+/* Default global configuration file. */
+#define TMUX_CONF "/etc/tmux.conf"
 
 /* Default prompt history length. */
 #define PROMPT_HISTORY 100