diff --git a/docs/manual/OptionalTasks/scp.html b/docs/manual/OptionalTasks/scp.html
index fc56228e3..dc8c03cbf 100644
--- a/docs/manual/OptionalTasks/scp.html
+++ b/docs/manual/OptionalTasks/scp.html
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ for more information.</p>
     the identity of the remote host.  This must be a SSH2 format file.
     SSH1 format is not supported.</td>
     <td valian="top" align="center">No, defaults to
-    ${user.dir}/.ssh/known_hosts.</td>
+    ${user.home}/.ssh/known_hosts.</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td valign="top">failonerror</td>
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/ssh/Scp.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/ssh/Scp.java
index a943048ca..7f3e6470b 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/ssh/Scp.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/ssh/Scp.java
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ public class Scp extends Task implements LogListener {
      * Sets the path to the file that has the identities of
      * all known hosts.  This is used by SSH protocol to validate
      * the identity of the host.  The default is
-     * <i>{$user.dir}/.ssh/known_hosts</i>.
+     * <i>${user.home}/.ssh/known_hosts</i>.
 
      * @param knownHosts a path to the known hosts file.
      */
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ public class Scp extends Task implements LogListener {
         super.init();
         this.toUri = null;
         this.fromUri = null;
-        this.knownHosts = System.getProperty("user.dir") + "/.ssh/known_hosts";
+        this.knownHosts = System.getProperty("user.home") + "/.ssh/known_hosts";
         this.trust = false;
         this.port = 22;
         this.fileSets = null;