diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeService.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeService.java
index ce6185a6473..4849dd99846 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeService.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeService.java
@@ -135,6 +135,9 @@ public class TribeService extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<TribeService> {
             Settings.Builder sb = Settings.builder().put(entry.getValue());
             sb.put("name", settings.get("name") + "/" + entry.getKey());
             sb.put(Environment.PATH_HOME_SETTING.getKey(), Environment.PATH_HOME_SETTING.get(settings)); // pass through ES home dir
+            if (Environment.PATH_CONF_SETTING.exists(settings)) {
+                sb.put(Environment.PATH_CONF_SETTING.getKey(), Environment.PATH_CONF_SETTING.get(settings));
+            }
             sb.put(TRIBE_NAME, entry.getKey());
             if (sb.get("http.enabled") == null) {
                 sb.put("http.enabled", false);
diff --git a/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeUnitTests.java b/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeUnitTests.java
index d0b37f8c232..f18a2874220 100644
--- a/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeUnitTests.java
+++ b/qa/evil-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/tribe/TribeUnitTests.java
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ public class TribeUnitTests extends ESTestCase {
         System.setProperty("es.tribe.t2.discovery.id.seed", Long.toString(random().nextLong()));
 
         try {
-            assertTribeNodeSuccesfullyCreated(Settings.EMPTY);
+            assertTribeNodeSuccessfullyCreated(Settings.EMPTY);
         } finally {
             System.clearProperty("es.cluster.name");
             System.clearProperty("es.tribe.t1.cluster.name");
@@ -108,10 +108,10 @@ public class TribeUnitTests extends ESTestCase {
             .put(InternalSettingsPreparer.IGNORE_SYSTEM_PROPERTIES_SETTING, true)
             .put(Environment.PATH_CONF_SETTING.getKey(), pathConf)
             .build();
-        assertTribeNodeSuccesfullyCreated(settings);
+        assertTribeNodeSuccessfullyCreated(settings);
     }
 
-    private static void assertTribeNodeSuccesfullyCreated(Settings extraSettings) throws Exception {
+    private static void assertTribeNodeSuccessfullyCreated(Settings extraSettings) throws Exception {
         //tribe node doesn't need the node.mode setting, as it's forced local internally anyways. The tribe clients do need it to make sure
         //they can find their corresponding tribes using the proper transport
         Settings settings = Settings.builder().put("http.enabled", false).put("node.name", "tribe_node")