diff --git a/bin/foamGet b/bin/foamGet
index b783ad998..0f9637d16 100755
--- a/bin/foamGet
+++ b/bin/foamGet
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ searchDirs="\
     $FOAM_ETC/caseDicts"
 
 ext="ANY"
-tgt="system"
+tgt=""
 while [ "$#" -gt 0 ]
 do
    case "$1" in
@@ -185,6 +185,19 @@ done
 [ $# -eq 1 ] || error "missing argument: no file name/prefix <file> supplied"
 prefix="$1"
 
+[ "$tgt" ] || \
+    case "$prefix" in
+       All*)
+          tgt="."
+          ;;
+       *Properties|*Cloud)
+          tgt="constant"
+          ;;
+       *)
+          tgt="system"
+          ;;
+    esac
+
 [ -s "system/controlDict" ] || \
     echo "Warning: cannot find OpenFOAM case directory (no system/controlDict file)"
 [ -d "$tgt" ] || error "target directory does not exist: '$tgt'"