diff --git a/spring-cloud-config-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/config/server/support/AbstractScmAccessor.java b/spring-cloud-config-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/config/server/support/AbstractScmAccessor.java
index ae4d2079..751fd881 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-config-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/config/server/support/AbstractScmAccessor.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-config-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/config/server/support/AbstractScmAccessor.java
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ public class AbstractScmAccessor implements ResourceLoaderAware {
 	/**
 	 * Search paths to use within local working copy. By default searches only the root.
 	 */
-	private String[] searchPaths = DEFAULT_LOCATIONS;
+	private String[] searchPaths = DEFAULT_LOCATIONS.clone();
 
 	private ResourceLoader resourceLoader = new DefaultResourceLoader();
 
@@ -230,4 +230,4 @@ public class AbstractScmAccessor implements ResourceLoaderAware {
 		return output;
 	}
 
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/spring-cloud-config-server/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/config/server/environment/JGitEnvironmentRepositoryIntegrationTests.java b/spring-cloud-config-server/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/config/server/environment/JGitEnvironmentRepositoryIntegrationTests.java
index fdbcddcb..263856e9 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-config-server/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/config/server/environment/JGitEnvironmentRepositoryIntegrationTests.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-config-server/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/config/server/environment/JGitEnvironmentRepositoryIntegrationTests.java
@@ -18,15 +18,19 @@ package org.springframework.cloud.config.server.environment;
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertArrayEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertThat;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.charset.Charset;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 
 import org.eclipse.jgit.api.Git;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.util.FileUtils;
+import org.hamcrest.Matchers;
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -146,6 +150,20 @@ public class JGitEnvironmentRepositoryIntegrationTests {
 		assertEquals(3, environment.getPropertySources().size());
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void singleElementArrayIndexSearchPath() throws IOException {
+		String uri = ConfigServerTestUtils.prepareLocalRepo("nested-repo");
+		this.context = new SpringApplicationBuilder(TestConfiguration.class).web(false)
+				.run("--spring.cloud.config.server.git.uri=" + uri,
+						"--spring.cloud.config.server.git.searchPaths[0]={application}");
+		JGitEnvironmentRepository repository = this.context
+				.getBean(JGitEnvironmentRepository.class);
+		assertThat(repository.getSearchPaths(), Matchers.arrayContaining("{application}"));
+		assertFalse(Arrays.equals(repository.getSearchPaths(),
+				new JGitEnvironmentRepository(repository.getEnvironment())
+						.getSearchPaths()));
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void defaultLabel() throws Exception {
 		String uri = ConfigServerTestUtils.prepareLocalRepo();