diff --git a/src/thermophysicalModels/reactionThermo/chemistryReaders/foamChemistryReader/foamChemistryReader.C b/src/thermophysicalModels/reactionThermo/chemistryReaders/foamChemistryReader/foamChemistryReader.C
index 99c98e6dea..4130abf21a 100644
--- a/src/thermophysicalModels/reactionThermo/chemistryReaders/foamChemistryReader/foamChemistryReader.C
+++ b/src/thermophysicalModels/reactionThermo/chemistryReaders/foamChemistryReader/foamChemistryReader.C
@@ -37,8 +37,20 @@ Foam::foamChemistryReader<ThermoType>::foamChemistryReader
 )
 :
     chemistryReader<ThermoType>(),
-    chemDict_(IFstream(reactionsFileName.expand())),
-    thermoDict_(IFstream(thermoFileName.expand())),
+    chemDict_
+    (
+        IFstream
+        (
+            fileName(reactionsFileName).expand()
+        )()
+    ),
+    thermoDict_
+    (
+        IFstream
+        (
+            fileName(thermoFileName).expand()
+        )()
+    ),
     speciesThermo_(thermoDict_),
     speciesTable_(chemDict_.lookup("species")),
     reactions_(speciesTable_, speciesThermo_, chemDict_)