diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/ProjectHelper.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/ProjectHelper.java
index 6fae21911..0ec30cc3c 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/ProjectHelper.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/ProjectHelper.java
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ public class ProjectHelper {
      * implementations.
      */
     public static final String SERVICE_ID =
-        "/META-INF/services/org.apache.tools.ant.ProjectHelper";
+        "META-INF/services/org.apache.tools.ant.ProjectHelper";
 
     /**
      * Configures the project with the contents of the specified XML file.