diff --git a/gnes/base/__init__.py b/gnes/base/__init__.py
index fe4791bc..411beb2d 100644
--- a/gnes/base/__init__.py
+++ b/gnes/base/__init__.py
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ def _get_instance_from_yaml(cls, constructor, node, stop_on_import_error=False):
         data = ruamel.yaml.constructor.SafeConstructor.construct_mapping(
             constructor, node, deep=True)
 
-        dump_path = cls._get_dump_path_from_config(data)
+        dump_path = cls._get_dump_path_from_config(data.get('gnes_config', {}))
         if dump_path:
             obj = cls.load(dump_path)
             obj.logger.info('restore %s from %s' % (cls.__name__, dump_path))