ensure prefix path is absolute (#1227)

Replaces #1208 as the PR is not edit-able.

Author: gaborbernat

docs/changes.rst

@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 Release History
 ===============
 
+
 16.1.0 (unreleased)
 -------------------
 
 * Fixed documentation to use pypi.org and correct curl options; :issue:`1042`
+* bug fix: ensure prefix is absolute when creating a new virtual environment :issue:`1208`
 
 16.0.0 (2018-05-16)
 -------------------

src/virtualenv.py

@@ -1185,6 +1185,7 @@ def install_python(home_dir, lib_dir, inc_dir, bin_dir, site_packages, clear, sy
         prefix = sys.base_prefix
     else:
         prefix = sys.prefix
+    prefix = os.path.abspath(prefix)
     mkdir(lib_dir)
     fix_lib64(lib_dir, symlink)
     stdlib_dirs = [os.path.dirname(os.__file__)]