diff --git a/src/AMSWorkflow/ams/config.py b/src/AMSWorkflow/ams/config.py
index 2cc5cd16..a9d21a32 100644
--- a/src/AMSWorkflow/ams/config.py
+++ b/src/AMSWorkflow/ams/config.py
@@ -86,8 +86,9 @@ def from_env(cls):
 
     @classmethod
     def from_path(cls, db_path):
-        _fn = Path(db_path) / Path("ams_config.json")
-        assert _fn.exists(), "AMS Configuration file does not exist"
+        _default_conf = "ams_config.json"
+        _fn = Path(db_path) / Path(_default_conf)
+        assert _fn.exists(), f"AMS Configuration ({_default_conf}) does not exist"
         with open(str(_fn), "r") as fd:
             config = json.load(fd)
 
diff --git a/src/AMSWorkflow/ams/stage.py b/src/AMSWorkflow/ams/stage.py
index 9b5a9e99..3a030c42 100644
--- a/src/AMSWorkflow/ams/stage.py
+++ b/src/AMSWorkflow/ams/stage.py
@@ -478,7 +478,9 @@ def __init__(self, db_dir, store, dest_dir=None, stage_dir=None, db_type="hdf5")
         initializes the Pipeline class to write the final data in the 'dest_dir' using a file writer of type 'db_type'
         and optionally caching the data in the 'stage_dir' before making them available in the cache store.
         """
-        self.ams_config = AMSInstance.from_path(db_dir)
+        self.ams_config = AMSInstance.from_env()
+        if self.ams_config is None:
+            self.ams_config = AMSInstance.from_path(db_dir)
 
         if dest_dir is not None:
             self.dest_dir = dest_dir
diff --git a/tests/AMSlib/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/AMSlib/CMakeLists.txt
index ecba5eff..73135c89 100644
--- a/tests/AMSlib/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/AMSlib/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ function(INTEGRATION_TEST_ENV)
   add_test(NAME AMSEndToEndFromJSON::DuqMean::DuqMax::Double::DB::hdf5-debug::HOST COMMAND bash -c "AMS_OBJECTS=${JSON_FP} ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/ams_end_to_end_env  0 8 9 \"double\" 1 1024 app_uq_mean_debug app_uq_max_debug;AMS_OBJECTS=${JSON_FP} python3 ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/verify_ete.py 0 8 9 \"double\" 1024 app_uq_mean_debug app_uq_max_debug")
   unset(JSON_FP)
   endif()
+  if (WITH_RMQ)
+    configure_file("${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/json_configs/rmq.json.in" "rmq.json" @ONLY)
+  endif()
 endfunction()
 
 
diff --git a/tests/AMSlib/json_configs/rmq.json b/tests/AMSlib/json_configs/rmq.json.in
similarity index 100%
rename from tests/AMSlib/json_configs/rmq.json
rename to tests/AMSlib/json_configs/rmq.json.in