diff --git a/tei2html.py b/tei2html.py
index 41a210f..8f53445 100755
--- a/tei2html.py
+++ b/tei2html.py
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ def main(
     )
     parser.add_argument(
             "--root-dir",
-            default = Path.cwd(),
+            default = Path.cwd() / "output",
             help="internal html links on the page will use this location as a prefix"
     )
     parser.add_argument(