diff --git a/impl/core/src/main/java/br/gov/frameworkdemoiselle/internal/bootstrap/AbstractStrategyBootstrap.java b/impl/core/src/main/java/br/gov/frameworkdemoiselle/internal/bootstrap/AbstractStrategyBootstrap.java
index 8c744b4..9ac2085 100644
--- a/impl/core/src/main/java/br/gov/frameworkdemoiselle/internal/bootstrap/AbstractStrategyBootstrap.java
+++ b/impl/core/src/main/java/br/gov/frameworkdemoiselle/internal/bootstrap/AbstractStrategyBootstrap.java
@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@
  */
 package br.gov.frameworkdemoiselle.internal.bootstrap;
 
+import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
+import java.net.URL;
+
 import javax.enterprise.event.Observes;
 import javax.enterprise.inject.spi.BeforeBeanDiscovery;
 import javax.enterprise.inject.spi.ProcessAnnotatedType;
@@ -44,6 +47,7 @@ import org.apache.commons.configuration.Configuration;
 import org.apache.commons.configuration.PropertiesConfiguration;
 
 import br.gov.frameworkdemoiselle.configuration.ConfigurationException;
+import br.gov.frameworkdemoiselle.internal.configuration.ConfigurationLoader;
 import br.gov.frameworkdemoiselle.util.Reflections;
 import br.gov.frameworkdemoiselle.util.Strings;
 
@@ -91,7 +95,8 @@ public abstract class AbstractStrategyBootstrap<T, D extends T> extends Abstract
 		String key = null;
 
 		try {
-			Configuration config = new PropertiesConfiguration("demoiselle.properties");
+			URL url = ConfigurationLoader.getResourceAsURL("demoiselle.properties");
+			Configuration config = new PropertiesConfiguration(url);
 			canonicalName = config.getString(getConfigKey(), getDefaultClass().getCanonicalName());
 
 			ClassLoader classLoader = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
@@ -108,6 +113,9 @@ public abstract class AbstractStrategyBootstrap<T, D extends T> extends Abstract
 		} catch (ClassCastException cause) {
 			key = Strings.getString("{0}-class-must-be-of-type", typeName);
 			throw new ConfigurationException(getBundle().getString(key, canonicalName, getType()));
+			
+		} catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
+			throw new ConfigurationException(getBundle().getString("file-not-found", "demoiselle.properties"));
 		}
 
 		return result;
diff --git a/impl/core/src/main/java/br/gov/frameworkdemoiselle/internal/configuration/ConfigurationLoader.java b/impl/core/src/main/java/br/gov/frameworkdemoiselle/internal/configuration/ConfigurationLoader.java
index 07d7470..bfc9e65 100644
--- a/impl/core/src/main/java/br/gov/frameworkdemoiselle/internal/configuration/ConfigurationLoader.java
+++ b/impl/core/src/main/java/br/gov/frameworkdemoiselle/internal/configuration/ConfigurationLoader.java
@@ -36,9 +36,11 @@
  */
 package br.gov.frameworkdemoiselle.internal.configuration;
 
+import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
 import java.io.Serializable;
 import java.lang.reflect.Field;
 import java.lang.reflect.Method;
+import java.net.URL;
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.Properties;
@@ -49,7 +51,6 @@ import javax.validation.constraints.NotNull;
 
 import org.apache.commons.configuration.PropertiesConfiguration;
 import org.apache.commons.configuration.SystemConfiguration;
-import org.apache.commons.configuration.XMLConfiguration;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 
 import br.gov.frameworkdemoiselle.annotation.Ignore;
@@ -208,17 +209,21 @@ public class ConfigurationLoader implements Serializable {
 		org.apache.commons.configuration.Configuration config = null;
 
 		try {
+			URL url;
+
 			switch (type) {
 				case SYSTEM:
 					config = new SystemConfiguration();
 					break;
 
 				case PROPERTIES:
-					config = new PropertiesConfiguration(resource + ".properties");
+					url = getResourceAsURL(resource + ".properties");
+					config = new PropertiesConfiguration(url);
 					break;
 
 				case XML:
-					config = new XMLConfiguration(resource + ".xml");
+					url = getResourceAsURL(resource + ".xml");
+					config = new PropertiesConfiguration(url);
 					break;
 
 				default:
@@ -301,4 +306,28 @@ public class ConfigurationLoader implements Serializable {
 
 		return value;
 	}
+
+	public static URL getResourceAsURL(final String resource) throws FileNotFoundException {
+		final String stripped = resource.startsWith("/") ? resource.substring(1) : resource;
+
+		URL url = null;
+		final ClassLoader classLoader = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
+		
+		if (classLoader != null) {
+			url = classLoader.getResource(stripped);
+		}
+
+		if (url == null) {
+			url = ConfigurationLoader.class.getResource(stripped);
+		}
+		if (url == null) {
+			url = ConfigurationLoader.class.getClassLoader().getResource(stripped);
+		}
+
+		if (url == null) {
+			throw new FileNotFoundException(resource + " not found.");
+		}
+
+		return url;
+	}
 }
diff --git a/impl/core/src/main/java/br/gov/frameworkdemoiselle/util/ResourceBundle.java b/impl/core/src/main/java/br/gov/frameworkdemoiselle/util/ResourceBundle.java
index f2de5eb..af9f77d 100644
--- a/impl/core/src/main/java/br/gov/frameworkdemoiselle/util/ResourceBundle.java
+++ b/impl/core/src/main/java/br/gov/frameworkdemoiselle/util/ResourceBundle.java
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import java.io.Serializable;
 import java.lang.reflect.Method;
 import java.util.Enumeration;
 import java.util.Locale;
+import java.util.MissingResourceException;
 import java.util.Set;
 
 public class ResourceBundle extends java.util.ResourceBundle implements Serializable {
@@ -47,17 +48,22 @@ public class ResourceBundle extends java.util.ResourceBundle implements Serializ
 	private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
 	private String baseName;
-	
+
 	private transient java.util.ResourceBundle delegate;
 
 	private final Locale locale;
-	
+
 	private java.util.ResourceBundle getDelegate() {
-		if(delegate == null) {
-			ClassLoader classLoader = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
-			delegate = ResourceBundle.getBundle(baseName, locale, classLoader);
+		if (delegate == null) {
+			try {
+				ClassLoader classLoader = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
+				delegate = ResourceBundle.getBundle(baseName, locale, classLoader);
+
+			} catch (MissingResourceException mre) {
+				delegate = ResourceBundle.getBundle(baseName, locale);
+			}
 		}
-		
+
 		return delegate;
 	}
 
@@ -65,7 +71,7 @@ public class ResourceBundle extends java.util.ResourceBundle implements Serializ
 		this.baseName = baseName;
 		this.locale = locale;
 	}
-	
+
 	@Override
 	public boolean containsKey(String key) {
 		return getDelegate().containsKey(key);
@@ -104,6 +110,7 @@ public class ResourceBundle extends java.util.ResourceBundle implements Serializ
 		} catch (Exception cause) {
 			throw new RuntimeException(cause);
 		}
+
 		return result;
 	}
 }
--
libgit2 0.21.2