diff --git a/lib/ord.js b/lib/ord.js
index 07b3cfb..35b0dd5 100644
--- a/lib/ord.js
+++ b/lib/ord.js
@@ -19,8 +19,13 @@ const cds = require("@sap/cds");
 const defaults = require("./defaults");
 const path = require("path");
 
-const initializeAppConfig = (csn) => {
-    let packageJsonPath = path.join(cds.root, 'package.json')
+const initializeAppConfig = (csn, modelPath = cds.root || process.cwd()) => {
+
+    if (typeof modelPath !== 'string') {
+        throw new TypeError(`Expected "modelPath" to be a string, but received ${typeof modelPath}: ${JSON.stringify(modelPath)}`);
+    }
+
+    let packageJsonPath = path.join(modelPath, 'package.json')
     let packageJson;
     if (cds.utils.exists(packageJsonPath)) {
         packageJson = require(packageJsonPath);