diff --git a/amber/src/main/scala/org/apache/texera/amber/engine/common/Utils.scala b/amber/src/main/scala/org/apache/texera/amber/engine/common/Utils.scala
index dc074c1094d..ef26447830e 100644
--- a/amber/src/main/scala/org/apache/texera/amber/engine/common/Utils.scala
+++ b/amber/src/main/scala/org/apache/texera/amber/engine/common/Utils.scala
@@ -25,36 +25,54 @@ import org.apache.texera.amber.engine.architecture.rpc.controlreturns.WorkflowAg
 import java.nio.file.{Files, Path, Paths}
 import java.util.concurrent.locks.Lock
 import scala.annotation.tailrec
+import scala.jdk.CollectionConverters._
+import scala.util.Using
 
 object Utils extends LazyLogging {
 
   /**
     * Gets the real path of the amber home directory by:
-    * 1): check if the current directory is texera/amber
+    * 1): checking whether the current directory is `texera/amber`
     * if it's not then:
-    * 2): search the siblings and children to find the texera home path
+    * 2): searching siblings and children for an amber home path, preferring matches under the
+    *     current working directory before falling back to the first discovered match
     *
     * @return the real absolute path to amber home directory
     */
   lazy val amberHomePath: Path = {
-    val currentWorkingDirectory = Paths.get(".").toRealPath()
-    // check if the current directory is the amber home path
-    if (isAmberHomePath(currentWorkingDirectory)) {
-      currentWorkingDirectory
+    resolveAmberHomePath(Paths.get(".").toRealPath())
+  }
+
+  private[common] def resolveAmberHomePath(currentWorkingDirectory: Path): Path = {
+    val realCurrentWorkingDirectory = currentWorkingDirectory.toRealPath()
+
+    if (isAmberHomePath(realCurrentWorkingDirectory)) {
+      realCurrentWorkingDirectory
     } else {
-      // from current path's parent directory, search its children to find amber home path
-      // current max depth is set to 2 (current path's siblings and direct children)
-      val searchChildren = Files
-        .walk(currentWorkingDirectory.getParent, 2)
-        .filter((path: Path) => isAmberHomePath(path))
-        .findAny
-      if (searchChildren.isPresent) {
-        searchChildren.get
-      } else {
+      val parent = Option(realCurrentWorkingDirectory.getParent).getOrElse {
         throw new RuntimeException(
-          "Finding texera home path failed. Current working directory is " + currentWorkingDirectory
+          s"Cannot search for amber home from filesystem root: $realCurrentWorkingDirectory"
         )
       }
+
+      val amberCandidates =
+        Using.resource(Files.walk(parent, 2)) { stream =>
+          stream.iterator().asScala.flatMap(normalizeAmberHomePath).toVector
+        }
+
+      // Sort candidates to avoid dependence on Files.walk traversal order.
+      val amberCandidatesSorted = amberCandidates.sortBy(_.toString)
+
+      // Preserve the current behavior by preferring an amber directory discovered under the CWD.
+      amberCandidatesSorted
+        .filter(_.startsWith(realCurrentWorkingDirectory))
+        .maxByOption(_.getNameCount)
+        .orElse(amberCandidatesSorted.headOption)
+        .getOrElse {
+          throw new RuntimeException(
+            s"Finding amber home path failed. Current working directory is $realCurrentWorkingDirectory"
+          )
+        }
     }
   }
   val AMBER_HOME_FOLDER_NAME = "amber";
@@ -87,7 +105,12 @@ object Utils extends LazyLogging {
   }
 
   private def isAmberHomePath(path: Path): Boolean = {
-    path.toRealPath().endsWith(AMBER_HOME_FOLDER_NAME)
+    normalizeAmberHomePath(path).nonEmpty
+  }
+
+  private def normalizeAmberHomePath(path: Path): Option[Path] = {
+    val realPath = path.toRealPath()
+    Option.when(realPath.endsWith(AMBER_HOME_FOLDER_NAME))(realPath)
   }
 
   def aggregatedStateToString(state: WorkflowAggregatedState): String = {
diff --git a/amber/src/test/scala/org/apache/texera/amber/engine/common/UtilsSpec.scala b/amber/src/test/scala/org/apache/texera/amber/engine/common/UtilsSpec.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ff72b8b5b6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/amber/src/test/scala/org/apache/texera/amber/engine/common/UtilsSpec.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.texera.amber.engine.common
+
+import org.scalatest.flatspec.AnyFlatSpec
+
+import java.nio.file.attribute.BasicFileAttributes
+import java.nio.file.{FileVisitResult, FileVisitor, FileSystems, Files, Path}
+
+class UtilsSpec extends AnyFlatSpec {
+
+  "resolveAmberHomePath" should "prefer an amber directory under the current working directory" in
+    withTempDirectory { tempDirectory =>
+      val preferredRepo = Files.createDirectory(tempDirectory.resolve("preferred-repo"))
+      val siblingRepo = Files.createDirectory(tempDirectory.resolve("sibling-repo"))
+      val preferredAmber = Files.createDirectories(preferredRepo.resolve("amber"))
+      Files.createDirectories(siblingRepo.resolve("amber"))
+
+      assert(Utils.resolveAmberHomePath(preferredRepo) == preferredAmber.toRealPath())
+    }
+
+  it should "fall back to a sibling amber directory when the current working directory has none" in
+    withTempDirectory { tempDirectory =>
+      val repoRoot = Files.createDirectory(tempDirectory.resolve("repo-root"))
+      val moduleDirectory = Files.createDirectory(repoRoot.resolve("module"))
+      val amberDirectory = Files.createDirectories(repoRoot.resolve("amber"))
+
+      assert(Utils.resolveAmberHomePath(moduleDirectory) == amberDirectory.toRealPath())
+    }
+
+  it should "use amber-specific wording when searching from a filesystem root" in {
+    val filesystemRoot = FileSystems.getDefault.getRootDirectories.iterator().next().toRealPath()
+    val exception = intercept[RuntimeException] {
+      Utils.resolveAmberHomePath(filesystemRoot)
+    }
+
+    assert(exception.getMessage.contains("amber home"))
+  }
+
+  private def withTempDirectory(test: Path => Any): Unit = {
+    val tempDirectory = Files.createTempDirectory("utils-spec-")
+    try {
+      test(tempDirectory.toRealPath())
+    } finally {
+      deleteRecursively(tempDirectory)
+    }
+  }
+
+  private def deleteRecursively(path: Path): Unit = {
+    if (!Files.exists(path)) {
+      return
+    }
+
+    Files.walkFileTree(
+      path,
+      new FileVisitor[Path] {
+        override def preVisitDirectory(
+            directory: Path,
+            attributes: BasicFileAttributes
+        ): FileVisitResult = FileVisitResult.CONTINUE
+
+        override def visitFile(file: Path, attributes: BasicFileAttributes): FileVisitResult = {
+          Files.delete(file)
+          FileVisitResult.CONTINUE
+        }
+
+        override def visitFileFailed(file: Path, exception: java.io.IOException): FileVisitResult =
+          throw exception
+
+        override def postVisitDirectory(
+            directory: Path,
+            exception: java.io.IOException
+        ): FileVisitResult = {
+          Option(exception).foreach(throw _)
+          Files.delete(directory)
+          FileVisitResult.CONTINUE
+        }
+      }
+    )
+  }
+}