diff --git a/security/Member.php b/security/Member.php
index 17acca13b..ca5a79479 100644
--- a/security/Member.php
+++ b/security/Member.php
@@ -675,8 +675,10 @@ class Member extends DataObject implements TemplateGlobalProvider {
 	 * @return string Returns a random password.
 	 */
 	public static function create_new_password() {
-		if(file_exists(Security::get_word_list())) {
-			$words = file(Security::get_word_list());
+		$words = Config::inst()->get('Security', 'word_list');
+
+		if($words && file_exists($words)) {
+			$words = file($words);
 
 			list($usec, $sec) = explode(' ', microtime());
 			srand($sec + ((float) $usec * 100000));
diff --git a/security/Security.php b/security/Security.php
index 0dfe26a5e..5ebc6c83b 100644
--- a/security/Security.php
+++ b/security/Security.php
@@ -78,8 +78,12 @@ class Security extends Controller implements TemplateGlobalProvider {
 	 * @config
 	 * @var string
 	 */
-	protected static $word_list = './wordlist.txt';
+	private static $word_list = './wordlist.txt';
 
+	/**
+	 * @config
+	 * @var string
+	 */
 	private static $template = 'BlankPage';
 
 	/**