diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 01e6c19..bb3b41d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/).
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Fixed
+- Reading json from project root
 
 ## Version 1.2.3 - 28.05.2025
 
diff --git a/lib/compile/index.js b/lib/compile/index.js
index 6c1e82a..504af72 100644
--- a/lib/compile/index.js
+++ b/lib/compile/index.js
@@ -93,8 +93,14 @@ function toOpenApiOptions(csdl, csn, options = {}) {
   }
 
   if (result["config-file"]) {
-    if (fs.existsSync(result["config-file"])) {
-      const fileContent = require(result["config-file"]);
+    if (!fs.existsSync(result["config-file"])) {
+      throw new Error("Unable to find openapi config file " + result["config-file"]);
+    }
+
+    try{
+      const fileData = fs.readFileSync(result["config-file"], "utf-8");
+      const fileContent = JSON.parse(fileData);
+      
       Object.keys(fileContent).forEach((key) => {
         if (key === "odata-version" && !result["odataVersion"]) {
           result["odataVersion"] = fileContent[key];
@@ -104,8 +110,8 @@ function toOpenApiOptions(csdl, csn, options = {}) {
           result[key] = JSON.stringify(fileContent[key]);
         }
       });
-    } else {
-      throw new Error("Error while parsing the openapi configuration file " + result["config-file"]);
+    }catch(err){
+      throw new Error("Unable to parse OpenAPI config " + result["config-file"], { cause: err });
     }
   }