diff --git a/cmd/utils/flags.go b/cmd/utils/flags.go
index f60d7898b1..7037c0305a 100644
--- a/cmd/utils/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/utils/flags.go
@@ -1885,7 +1885,9 @@ func SetEthConfig(ctx *cli.Context, stack *node.Node, cfg *ethconfig.Config) {
 
 		var alloc core.GenesisAlloc
 		if allocPath := ctx.Path(DeveloperAllocFlag.Name); allocPath != "" {
-			allocPath = stack.ResolvePath(allocPath)
+			if ctx.IsSet(DataDirFlag.Name) {
+				allocPath = stack.ResolvePath(allocPath)
+			}
 			data, err := os.ReadFile(allocPath)
 			if err != nil {
 				Fatalf("Failed to read developer genesis alloc file: %v", err)