diff --git a/cms/envs/aws.py b/cms/envs/aws.py
index 2f62502819..f2259ef5e9 100644
--- a/cms/envs/aws.py
+++ b/cms/envs/aws.py
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ ALLOWED_HOSTS = [
 ]
 
 LOG_DIR = ENV_TOKENS['LOG_DIR']
-DATA_DIR = ENV_TOKENS.get('DATA_DIR', DATA_DIR)
+DATA_DIR = path(ENV_TOKENS.get('DATA_DIR', DATA_DIR))
 
 CACHES = ENV_TOKENS['CACHES']
 # Cache used for location mapping -- called many times with the same key/value
diff --git a/lms/envs/aws.py b/lms/envs/aws.py
index fbd8e53fcb..06282d3bc0 100644
--- a/lms/envs/aws.py
+++ b/lms/envs/aws.py
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ WIKI_ENABLED = ENV_TOKENS.get('WIKI_ENABLED', WIKI_ENABLED)
 
 local_loglevel = ENV_TOKENS.get('LOCAL_LOGLEVEL', 'INFO')
 LOG_DIR = ENV_TOKENS['LOG_DIR']
-DATA_DIR = ENV_TOKENS.get('DATA_DIR', DATA_DIR)
+DATA_DIR = path(ENV_TOKENS.get('DATA_DIR', DATA_DIR))
 
 LOGGING = get_logger_config(LOG_DIR,
                             logging_env=ENV_TOKENS['LOGGING_ENV'],