diff --git a/IPython/utils/path.py b/IPython/utils/path.py
index f715a14..4091841 100644
--- a/IPython/utils/path.py
+++ b/IPython/utils/path.py
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ def filefind(filename, path_dirs=None):
         path_dirs = (path_dirs,)
         
     for path in path_dirs:
-        if path == '.': path = os.getcwd()
+        if path == '.': path = os.getcwdu()
         testname = expand_path(os.path.join(path, filename))
         if os.path.isfile(testname):
             return os.path.abspath(testname)