diff --git a/source/globals.cpp b/source/globals.cpp
index eff05d604..53c71d8a1 100644
--- a/source/globals.cpp
+++ b/source/globals.cpp
@@ -333,12 +333,26 @@ void pythonpath_init(const char *name,const char *value)
 	const char * pythonpath = getenv("PYTHONPATH");
 	if ( pythonpath != NULL )
 	{
-		int len = snprintf(global_pythonpath,sizeof(global_pythonpath)-1,"%.*s",(int)sizeof(global_pythonpath)-2,value);
-		snprintf(global_pythonpath+len,sizeof(global_pythonpath)-1-len,":%.*s",(int)(sizeof(global_pythonpath)-2),pythonpath);
+		if ( value != NULL )
+		{
+			int len = snprintf(global_pythonpath,sizeof(global_pythonpath)-1,"%.*s",(int)sizeof(global_pythonpath)-2,value);
+			snprintf(global_pythonpath+len,sizeof(global_pythonpath)-1-len,":%.*s",(int)(sizeof(global_pythonpath)-2),pythonpath);
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			snprintf(global_pythonpath,sizeof(global_pythonpath)-1,"%.*s",(int)sizeof(global_pythonpath)-2,pythonpath);
+		}
 	}
 	else
 	{
-		snprintf(global_pythonpath,sizeof(global_pythonpath)-1,"%.*s",(int)sizeof(global_pythonpath)-2,value);
+		if ( value != NULL )
+		{
+			snprintf(global_pythonpath,sizeof(global_pythonpath)-1,"%.*s",(int)sizeof(global_pythonpath)-2,value);
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			snprintf(global_pythonpath,sizeof(global_pythonpath)-1,"%s","");
+		}
 	}
 }
 /* Add more derivative directories here */
diff --git a/source/load.cpp b/source/load.cpp
index 64bb78ed5..8b5e969b3 100755
--- a/source/load.cpp
+++ b/source/load.cpp
@@ -8341,7 +8341,7 @@ int GldLoader::process_macro(char *line, int size, char *_filename, int linenum)
 		strcpy(line,"\n");
 		return TRUE;
 	}
-	int rc = my_instance->subcommand("%s/" PACKAGE "-%s",global_execdir,strchr(line,'#')+1);
+	int rc = my_instance->subcommand("%s/" PACKAGE "-%s",getenv("GLD_BIN"),strchr(line,'#')+1);
 	if ( rc != 127 )
 	{
 		strcpy(line,"\n");
@@ -8546,10 +8546,14 @@ bool GldLoader::load_import(const char *from, char *to, int len)
 	}
 	strcpy(to,from);
 	char *glmext = strrchr(to,'.');
-	if ( glmext == NULL )
+	if ( glmext == NULL || (unsigned long long)glmext < (unsigned long long)strrchr(to,'/') )
+	{
 		strcat(to,".glm");
+	}
 	else
+	{
 		strcpy(glmext,".glm");
+	}
 	char load_options[1024] = "";
 	char load_options_var[64];
 	snprintf(load_options_var,sizeof(load_options_var)-1,"%s_load_options",ext);
@@ -8589,12 +8593,8 @@ bool GldLoader::load_import(const char *from, char *to, int len)
 
 STATUS GldLoader::load_python(const char *filename)
 {
-	extern PyObject *gridlabd_module;
-	if ( gridlabd_module == NULL )
-	{
-		python_embed_init(0,NULL);
-	}
-	return python_embed_import(filename,global_pythonpath) == NULL ? FAILED : SUCCESS;
+	python_embed_init(0,NULL);
+	return python_embed_run_file(filename) ? FAILED : SUCCESS;
 }
 
 /** Load a file
@@ -8629,7 +8629,7 @@ STATUS GldLoader::loadall(const char *fname)
 
 		if ( ext != NULL && ( strcmp(ext,".py") == 0 || strncmp(ext,".py ",4) == 0 || strncmp(ext,".py\t",4) == 0 ) )
 		{
-			return load_python(fname);
+			return load_python(fname) ? SUCCESS : FAILED;
 		}
 
 		// non-glm file
diff --git a/source/python_embed.cpp b/source/python_embed.cpp
index 3328d6f14..5cd9b70c3 100644
--- a/source/python_embed.cpp
+++ b/source/python_embed.cpp
@@ -8,17 +8,20 @@ PyObject *gridlabd_module = NULL;
 
 void python_embed_init(int argc, const char *argv[])
 {
-    program = Py_DecodeLocale(argv[0],NULL);
-    Py_SetProgramName(program);
-    Py_Initialize();
-    main_module = PyModule_GetDict(PyImport_AddModule("__main__"));
-    if ( main_module == NULL )
+    if ( gridlabd_module == NULL )
     {
-        throw_exception("python_embed_init(argc=%d,argv=(%s,...)): unable to load module __main__ module",argc,argv?argv[0]:"NULL");
+        program = Py_DecodeLocale(argv[0],NULL);
+        Py_SetProgramName(program);
+        Py_Initialize();
+        main_module = PyModule_GetDict(PyImport_AddModule("__main__"));
+        if ( main_module == NULL )
+        {
+            throw_exception("python_embed_init(argc=%d,argv=(%s,...)): unable to load module __main__ module",argc,argv?argv[0]:"NULL");
+        }
+        gridlabd_module = PyInit_gridlabd();
+        Py_INCREF(gridlabd_module);
+        Py_INCREF(main_module);
     }
-    gridlabd_module = PyInit_gridlabd();
-    Py_INCREF(gridlabd_module);
-    Py_INCREF(main_module);
 }
 
 void *python_loader_init(int argc, const char **argv)
@@ -53,6 +56,12 @@ void python_reset_stream(PyObject *pModule, const char *stream_name)
     if ( pStringIO ) Py_DECREF(pStringIO);
 }
 
+int python_embed_run_file(const char *filename)
+{
+    FILE *fp = fopen(filename,"rb");
+    return fp ? PyRun_SimpleFile(fp,filename) : -1;
+}
+
 PyObject *python_embed_import(const char *module, const char *path)
 {
     // fix module search path
diff --git a/source/python_embed.h b/source/python_embed.h
index 6cc2da451..108a4f766 100644
--- a/source/python_embed.h
+++ b/source/python_embed.h
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ void python_embed_init(int argc, const char *argv[]);
 void *python_loader_init(int argc, const char **argv);
 void python_embed_term();
 PyObject *python_embed_import(const char *module, const char *path=NULL);
+int python_embed_run_file(const char *filename);
 bool python_embed_call(PyObject *pModule, const char *name, const char *vargsfmt, va_list varargs, void *result);
 std::string python_eval(const char *command);
 bool python_parser(const char *line=NULL, void *context = NULL);