diff --git a/django/core/management/__init__.py b/django/core/management/__init__.py
index 04591479b3..ee0eb6fda8 100644
--- a/django/core/management/__init__.py
+++ b/django/core/management/__init__.py
@@ -254,6 +254,8 @@ def setup_environ(settings_mod):
     # way. For example, if this file (manage.py) lives in a directory
     # "myproject", this code would add "/path/to/myproject" to sys.path.
     project_directory, settings_filename = os.path.split(settings_mod.__file__)
+    if not project_directory:
+        project_directory = os.getcwd()
     project_name = os.path.basename(project_directory)
     settings_name = os.path.splitext(settings_filename)[0]
     sys.path.append(os.path.join(project_directory, os.pardir))