diff --git a/mercurial/util.py b/mercurial/util.py
--- a/mercurial/util.py
+++ b/mercurial/util.py
@@ -574,7 +574,10 @@ if os.name == 'nt':
     sys.stdout = winstdout(sys.stdout)
 
     def system_rcpath():
-        return [r'c:\mercurial\mercurial.ini']
+        try:
+            return system_rcpath_win32()
+        except:
+            return [r'c:\mercurial\mercurial.ini']
 
     def os_rcpath():
         '''return default os-specific hgrc search path'''
diff --git a/mercurial/util_win32.py b/mercurial/util_win32.py
--- a/mercurial/util_win32.py
+++ b/mercurial/util_win32.py
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ def testpid(pid):
         return details[0] != winerror.ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER
     return True
 
-def system_rcpath():
+def system_rcpath_win32():
     '''return default os-specific hgrc search path'''
     proc = win32api.GetCurrentProcess()
     filename = win32process.GetModuleFileNameEx(proc, 0)