diff --git a/bin/cdist-manifest-init b/bin/cdist-manifest-init
index 2b9ae00b..9e8a346f 100755
--- a/bin/cdist-manifest-init
+++ b/bin/cdist-manifest-init
@@ -29,4 +29,5 @@ set -e
 export __cdist_target_host="$1"; shift
 export __cdist_output_dir="$1"; shift
 
-cdist-manifest-run "$__cdist_target_host" "$__cdist_manifest_init" "$__cdist_output_dir"
+cdist-manifest-run "$__cdist_target_host" "$__cdist_local_base_dir" \
+   "$__cdist_manifest_init" "$__cdist_output_dir"
diff --git a/bin/cdist-manifest-run b/bin/cdist-manifest-run
index 48990edb..892b3a2f 100755
--- a/bin/cdist-manifest-run
+++ b/bin/cdist-manifest-run
@@ -23,12 +23,13 @@
 #
 
 . cdist-config
-[ $# -ge 3 ] || __cdist_usage "<target host> <manifest> <outdir> [manifest arguments]"
+[ $# -ge 4 ] || __cdist_usage "<target host> <work dir> <manifest> <out dir> [manifest arguments]"
 set -u
 
-export __cdist_target_host="$1"; shift
-export __cdist_manifest="$1"; shift
-export __cdist_output_dir="$1"; shift
+__cdist_target_host="$1"; shift
+__cdist_work_dir="$1"; shift
+__cdist_manifest="$1"; shift
+__cdist_output_dir="$1"; shift
 
 # Ensure binaries exist and are up-to-date
 cdist-type-build-emulation || __cdist_exit_err "Failed to build type emulation binaries"
@@ -43,4 +44,5 @@ fi
 
 mkdir -p "${__cdist_output_dir}" || __cdist_exit_err "Cannot create output dir ${__cdist_output_dir}"
 
+cd "$__cdist_work_dir" || __cdist_exit_err "Cannot change to work dir \"$__cdist_work_dir\"."
 __cdist_exec_fail_on_error "${__cdist_manifest}" "$@"
diff --git a/bin/cdist-manifest-run-all b/bin/cdist-manifest-run-all
index 038b0dc9..ad49bbb4 100755
--- a/bin/cdist-manifest-run-all
+++ b/bin/cdist-manifest-run-all
@@ -65,12 +65,8 @@ while [ "$__cdist_new_objects_created" = "y"  ]; do
          if [ -x "${__cdist_manifest}" ]; then
             echo "Executing manifest ${__cdist_manifest} ..."
 
-            # Safely change directory, convienent for type-writers
-            (
-               cd "$__cdist_cur_object_dir"
-               cdist-manifest-run "$__cdist_target_host" "$__cdist_manifest"     \
-                                  "$__cdist_new_objects_dir" "$__cdist_object_id"
-            )
+            cdist-manifest-run "$__cdist_target_host" "$__cdist_cur_object_dir" \
+               "$__cdist_manifest" "$__cdist_new_objects_dir" "$__cdist_object_id"
 
             __cdist_object_list "${__cdist_new_objects_dir}" > "$__cdist_new_objects_list"