diff --git a/tools/update-cares.sh b/tools/update-cares.sh
index 470a5d18a4f07f..f20347d88274fe 100755
--- a/tools/update-cares.sh
+++ b/tools/update-cares.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 set -e
 # Shell script to update c-ares in the source tree to a specific version
 
-BASE_DIR="$( pwd )"
+BASE_DIR=$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)
 DEPS_DIR="$BASE_DIR/deps"
 ARES_VERSION=$1
 
diff --git a/tools/update-llhttp.sh b/tools/update-llhttp.sh
index a34a19f0ffe610..12772e18e23eb9 100755
--- a/tools/update-llhttp.sh
+++ b/tools/update-llhttp.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ set -e
 
 # Shell script to update llhttp in the source tree to specific version
 
-BASE_DIR="$( pwd )"
+BASE_DIR=$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)
 DEPS_DIR="${BASE_DIR}/deps"
 LLHTTP_VERSION="$1"
 
diff --git a/tools/update-nghttp2.sh b/tools/update-nghttp2.sh
index 2f5368e3964b1e..dafa872385b005 100755
--- a/tools/update-nghttp2.sh
+++ b/tools/update-nghttp2.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 set -e
 # Shell script to update nghttp2 in the source tree to specific version
 
-BASE_DIR="$( pwd )"
+BASE_DIR=$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)
 DEPS_DIR="$BASE_DIR/deps"
 NGHTTP2_VERSION=$1
 
diff --git a/tools/update-npm.sh b/tools/update-npm.sh
index 9dfb3353bca25f..e4381ecfae0948 100755
--- a/tools/update-npm.sh
+++ b/tools/update-npm.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 set -e
 # Shell script to update npm in the source tree to a specific version
 
-BASE_DIR="$( pwd )"
+BASE_DIR=$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)
 DEPS_DIR="$BASE_DIR/deps"
 NPM_VERSION=$1