diff --git a/src/x509/clu_x509_sign.c b/src/x509/clu_x509_sign.c
index 152e59f..7d5625c 100644
--- a/src/x509/clu_x509_sign.c
+++ b/src/x509/clu_x509_sign.c
@@ -1045,15 +1045,34 @@ int wolfCLU_CertSignAppendOut(WOLFCLU_CERT_SIGN* csign, char* out)
     if (ret == WOLFCLU_SUCCESS && csign->outDir != NULL && out != NULL) {
         int currentSz = (int)XSTRLEN(csign->outDir);
 
-        s = (char*)XMALLOC(outSz + currentSz + 1, HEAP_HINT,
-                DYNAMIC_TYPE_TMP_BUFFER);
-        if (s == NULL) {
-            ret = MEMORY_E;
+        /* If out is an absolute path, use it directly instead of appending */
+        if (out[0] == '/') {
+            s = (char*)XMALLOC(outSz + 1, HEAP_HINT, DYNAMIC_TYPE_TMP_BUFFER);
+            if (s == NULL) {
+                ret = MEMORY_E;
+            }
+            else {
+                XMEMCPY(s, out, outSz);
+                s[outSz] = '\0';
+            }
         }
         else {
-            XMEMCPY(s, csign->outDir, currentSz);
-            XMEMCPY(s + currentSz, out, outSz);
-            s[outSz + currentSz] = '\0';
+            /* Relative path: append with separator if needed */
+            int needSep = (csign->outDir[currentSz - 1] != '/') ? 1 : 0;
+
+            s = (char*)XMALLOC(outSz + currentSz + needSep + 1, HEAP_HINT,
+                    DYNAMIC_TYPE_TMP_BUFFER);
+            if (s == NULL) {
+                ret = MEMORY_E;
+            }
+            else {
+                XMEMCPY(s, csign->outDir, currentSz);
+                if (needSep) {
+                    s[currentSz] = '/';
+                }
+                XMEMCPY(s + currentSz + needSep, out, outSz);
+                s[outSz + currentSz + needSep] = '\0';
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/x509/x509-ca-test.sh b/tests/x509/x509-ca-test.sh
index f0177f3..2da21f3 100755
--- a/tests/x509/x509-ca-test.sh
+++ b/tests/x509/x509-ca-test.sh
@@ -278,6 +278,64 @@ if ./wolfssl ca -help 2>&1 | grep altextend &> /dev/null; then
     rm -f tmp-server-chimera-cert.pem
 fi
 
+# Test path concatenation fix for -out with new_certs_dir
+echo "Testing -out path handling with new_certs_dir"
+mkdir -p outdir-test/certs
+cat << EOF > ca-outdir.conf
+[ ca ]
+default_ca = CA_default
+
+[ CA_default ]
+dir = ./certs
+database = ./index.txt
+new_certs_dir = ./outdir-test/certs
+certificate = \$dir/ca-cert.pem
+private_key = \$dir/ca-key.pem
+rand_serial = yes
+default_days = 365
+default_md = sha256
+policy = policy_any
+
+[ policy_any ]
+countryName            = supplied
+stateOrProvinceName    = optional
+organizationName       = optional
+organizationalUnitName = optional
+commonName             = supplied
+emailAddress           = optional
+EOF
+
+rm index.txt
+touch index.txt
+run_success "req -key ./certs/server-key.pem -subj /O=wolfSSL/C=US/ST=MT/L=Bozeman/CN=wolfSSL/OU=org-unit -out tmp-outdir.csr"
+
+# Test 1: absolute -out path should override new_certs_dir
+ABS_OUT_PATH="$(pwd)/outdir-test/absolute-out.pem"
+run_success "ca -config ca-outdir.conf -in tmp-outdir.csr -out $ABS_OUT_PATH"
+if [ ! -f "$ABS_OUT_PATH" ]; then
+    echo "Absolute -out path test failed: file not found at $ABS_OUT_PATH"
+    exit 99
+fi
+if [ -f ./outdir-test/certs"$ABS_OUT_PATH" ]; then
+    echo "Absolute -out path test failed: file incorrectly concatenated"
+    exit 99
+fi
+echo "Absolute -out path test passed"
+
+# Test 2: relative -out path should be appended to new_certs_dir
+rm index.txt
+touch index.txt
+run_success "ca -config ca-outdir.conf -in tmp-outdir.csr -out relative-out.pem"
+if [ ! -f ./outdir-test/certs/relative-out.pem ]; then
+    echo "Relative -out path test failed: file not found at ./outdir-test/certs/relative-out.pem"
+    exit 99
+fi
+echo "Relative -out path test passed"
+
+rm -rf outdir-test
+rm -f ca-outdir.conf
+rm -f tmp-outdir.csr
+
 rm -f test_ca.pem
 rm -f tmp.pem
 rm -f rand-file-test