diff --git a/technology/setup_scripts/setup_openram_freepdk45.py b/technology/setup_scripts/setup_openram_freepdk45.py
index 6e279aff..4f55b746 100644
--- a/technology/setup_scripts/setup_openram_freepdk45.py
+++ b/technology/setup_scripts/setup_openram_freepdk45.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ LOCAL = "{0}/..".format(os.path.dirname(__file__))
 ##########################
 # FreePDK45 paths
 
-PDK_DIR="$FREEPDK45"
+PDK_DIR=os.path.abspath(os.environ.get("FREEPDK45"))
 os.environ["PDK_DIR"] = PDK_DIR 
 os.environ["SYSTEM_CDS_LIB_DIR"] = "{0}/ncsu_basekit/cdssetup".format(PDK_DIR) 
 os.environ["CDS_SITE"] = PDK_DIR 
diff --git a/technology/setup_scripts/setup_openram_scn3me_subm.py b/technology/setup_scripts/setup_openram_scn3me_subm.py
index 452460f5..ed5331c9 100644
--- a/technology/setup_scripts/setup_openram_scn3me_subm.py
+++ b/technology/setup_scripts/setup_openram_scn3me_subm.py
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ os.environ["MGC_TMPDIR"] = "/tmp"
 
 ###########################
 # OpenRAM Paths
-
-DRCLVS_HOME="$OPENRAM_TECH/scn3me_subm/tech"
+OPENRAM_TECH=os.path.abspath(os.environ.get("OPENRAM_TECH"))
+DRCLVS_HOME=OPENRAM_TECH+"/scn3me_subm/tech"
 os.environ["DRCLVS_HOME"] = DRCLVS_HOME 
 
 ##########################