diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9815a1bb3..04bd475de 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ engine.renderFile("hello", {name: 'alice'})
 
 * `root` is a directory or an array of directories to resolve layouts and includes, as well as the filename passed in when calling `.renderFile()`.
 If an array, the files are looked up in the order they occur in the array.
-Defaults to `["."]`
+Defaults to `process.cwd()`
 
 * `extname` is used to lookup the template file when filepath doesn't include an extension name. Defaults to `.liquid`
 
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 0f46765fe..f6dd36bd1 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ const assert = require('./src/util/assert.js');
 const tokenizer = require('./src/tokenizer.js');
 const statFileAsync = require('./src/util/fs.js').statFileAsync;
 const readFileAsync = require('./src/util/fs.js').readFileAsync;
-const pathResolve = require('./src/util/fs.js').pathResolve;
+const path = require('path');
 const Render = require('./src/render.js');
 const lexical = require('./src/lexical.js');
 const Tag = require('./src/tag.js');
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ var _engine = {
     },
     lookup: function(filepath, root) {
         root = this.options.root.concat(root || []);
-        var paths = root.map(root => pathResolve(root, filepath));
+        var paths = root.map(root => path.resolve(root, filepath));
         return anySeries(paths, path => statFileAsync(path).then(() => path))
             .catch((e) => {
                 if (e.code === 'ENOENT') {
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ var _engine = {
             });
     },
     getTemplate: function(filepath, root) {
-        if (!filepath.match(/\.\w+$/)) {
+        if(!path.extname(filepath)){
             filepath += this.options.extname;
         }
         return this
diff --git a/makefile b/makefile
index df6ec7544..44e330c3c 100644
--- a/makefile
+++ b/makefile
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ default:
 dist: 
 	[ -d dist/ ] || mkdir dist/
 	$(BROWSERIFY) index.js -s Liquid \
+		--ignore path \
 		-t [ babelify --global true --presets [ es2015 ] ] \
 		> dist/liquid.js
 	$(MINIFY) dist/liquid.js --compress warnings=false --mangle --output dist/liquid.min.js
diff --git a/src/util/fs.js b/src/util/fs.js
index c080211cb..ed67ec4ad 100644
--- a/src/util/fs.js
+++ b/src/util/fs.js
@@ -14,21 +14,7 @@ function statFileAsync(path) {
     });
 };
 
-function pathResolve(root, path) {
-    if (path[0] == '/') return path;
-
-    var arr = root.split('/').concat(path.split('/'));
-    var result = [];
-    arr.forEach(function(slug) {
-        if (slug == '..') result.pop();
-        else if (!slug || slug == '.');
-        else result.push(slug);
-    });
-    return '/' + result.join('/');
-}
-
 module.exports = {
     readFileAsync,
-    pathResolve,
     statFileAsync
 };
diff --git a/test/liquid.js b/test/liquid.js
index 92662ddb9..593f61186 100644
--- a/test/liquid.js
+++ b/test/liquid.js
@@ -96,6 +96,17 @@ describe('liquid', function() {
             return expect(engine.renderFile('files/foo.html'))
                 .to.eventually.equal('foo');
         });
+        it('should default root to cwd', function(){
+            var files = {};
+            files[process.cwd() + '/foo.html'] = 'FOO';
+            mock(files);
+
+            engine = Liquid({
+                extname: '.html'
+            });
+            return expect(engine.renderFile('foo.html'))
+                .to.eventually.equal('FOO');
+        });
         it('should render file with context', function() {
             return engine.renderFile('/root/files/name.html', ctx).should.eventually.equal('My name is harttle.');
         });
diff --git a/test/util/fs.js b/test/util/fs.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 433d353bc..000000000
--- a/test/util/fs.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-const chai = require("chai");
-const expect = chai.expect;
-
-const fs = require('../../src/util/fs.js');
-const pathResolve = fs.pathResolve;
-
-describe('fs', function() {
-    describe('.pathResolve(root, path)', function() {
-        it('should accept root with no trailing slash', function() {
-            expect(pathResolve('/root', 'files/foo.html')).to.equal('/root/files/foo.html');
-        });
-        it('should accept root with trailing slash', function() {
-            expect(pathResolve('/root/', 'files/foo.html')).to.equal('/root/files/foo.html');
-        });
-        it('should accept dot path', function() {
-            expect(pathResolve('/root', './foo.html')).to.equal('/root/foo.html');
-        });
-        it('should accept double-dot path', function() {
-            expect(pathResolve('/root', 'files/../foo.html')).to.equal('/root/foo.html');
-        });
-    });
-});