diff --git a/lib/espresso-runner.js b/lib/espresso-runner.js
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/lib/espresso-runner.js
+++ b/lib/espresso-runner.js
@@ -143,11 +143,18 @@ class EspressoRunner {
   async buildNewModServer () {
     let buildConfiguration = {};
     if (this.espressoBuildConfig) {
-      logger.info(`Using build configuration JSON from: '${this.espressoBuildConfig}'`);
+      let buildConfigurationStr;
+      if (await fs.exists(this.espressoBuildConfig)) {
+        logger.info(`Loading the build configuration from '${this.espressoBuildConfig}'`);
+        buildConfigurationStr = await fs.readFile(this.espressoBuildConfig, 'utf8');
+      } else {
+        logger.info(`Loading the build configuration from 'espressoBuildConfig' capability`);
+        buildConfigurationStr = this.espressoBuildConfig;
+      }
       try {
-        buildConfiguration = JSON.parse(await fs.readFile(this.espressoBuildConfig, 'utf8'));
+        buildConfiguration = JSON.parse(buildConfigurationStr);
       } catch (e) {
-        logger.error('Failed to parse build configuration JSON', e);
+        logger.error('Cannot parse the build configuration JSON', e);
         throw e;
       }
     }
feat: Make it possible to provide a build config directly from capabilities (#<I>)