diff --git a/domain-server/src/DomainServer.cpp b/domain-server/src/DomainServer.cpp
index 09ab25ad91..0b42f78fe2 100644
--- a/domain-server/src/DomainServer.cpp
+++ b/domain-server/src/DomainServer.cpp
@@ -2216,12 +2216,13 @@ void DomainServer::respondToPathQuery(const QByteArray& receivedPacket, const Hi
             pathQuery.prepend("/");
         }
 
-        const QString PATHS_SETTINGS_KEYPATH_FORMAT = "paths.%2";
+        const QString PATHS_SETTINGS_KEYPATH_FORMAT = "%1.%2";
         const QString PATH_VIEWPOINT_KEY = "viewpoint";
 
         // check out paths in the _configMap to see if we have a match
         const QVariant* pathMatch = valueForKeyPath(_settingsManager.getSettingsMap(),
-                                                    QString(PATHS_SETTINGS_KEYPATH_FORMAT).arg(pathQuery));
+                                                    QString(PATHS_SETTINGS_KEYPATH_FORMAT).arg(SETTINGS_PATHS_KEY)
+                                                                                          .arg(pathQuery));
         if (pathMatch) {
             // we got a match, respond with the resulting viewpoint
             auto nodeList = DependencyManager::get<LimitedNodeList>();
diff --git a/domain-server/src/DomainServerSettingsManager.cpp b/domain-server/src/DomainServerSettingsManager.cpp
index 665038de39..589231b56a 100644
--- a/domain-server/src/DomainServerSettingsManager.cpp
+++ b/domain-server/src/DomainServerSettingsManager.cpp
@@ -297,7 +297,18 @@ void DomainServerSettingsManager::updateSetting(const QString& key, const QJsonV
                 }
             }
 
-            updateSetting(childKey, newValue.toObject()[childKey], thisMap, childDescriptionObject);
+            QString sanitizedKey = childKey;
+
+            if (key == SETTINGS_PATHS_KEY) {
+                // We perform special handling for paths here.
+                // If we got sent a path without a leading slash then we add it.
+
+                if (!sanitizedKey.startsWith("/")) {
+                    sanitizedKey.prepend("/");
+                }
+            }
+
+            updateSetting(sanitizedKey, newValue.toObject()[childKey], thisMap, childDescriptionObject);
         }
 
         if (settingMap[key].toMap().isEmpty()) {
diff --git a/domain-server/src/DomainServerSettingsManager.h b/domain-server/src/DomainServerSettingsManager.h
index 1e581c5a21..450baf66ae 100644
--- a/domain-server/src/DomainServerSettingsManager.h
+++ b/domain-server/src/DomainServerSettingsManager.h
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 #include <HifiConfigVariantMap.h>
 #include <HTTPManager.h>
 
+const QString SETTINGS_PATHS_KEY = "paths";
+
 class DomainServerSettingsManager : public QObject {
     Q_OBJECT
 public: