diff --git a/api/internal/target/kusttarget.go b/api/internal/target/kusttarget.go
index 5c4733ef0..45e3b8a73 100644
--- a/api/internal/target/kusttarget.go
+++ b/api/internal/target/kusttarget.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ package target
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
-	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
@@ -478,9 +477,8 @@ func (kt *KustTarget) accumulateDirectory(
 	subKt.kustomization.BuildMetadata = kt.kustomization.BuildMetadata
 	subKt.origin = kt.origin
 	var bytes []byte
-	path := ldr.Root()
 	if openApiPath, exists := subKt.Kustomization().OpenAPI["path"]; exists {
-		bytes, err = ldr.Load(filepath.Join(path, openApiPath))
+		bytes, err = ldr.Load(openApiPath)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
diff --git a/api/krusty/kustomizer.go b/api/krusty/kustomizer.go
index f2784155f..5f1f27ff2 100644
--- a/api/krusty/kustomizer.go
+++ b/api/krusty/kustomizer.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ package krusty
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"path/filepath"
 
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/internal/builtins"
 	pLdr "sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/internal/plugins/loader"
@@ -76,7 +75,7 @@ func (b *Kustomizer) Run(
 	}
 	var bytes []byte
 	if openApiPath, exists := kt.Kustomization().OpenAPI["path"]; exists {
-		bytes, err = ldr.Load(filepath.Join(ldr.Root(), openApiPath))
+		bytes, err = ldr.Load(openApiPath)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}