diff --git a/doc/changes/DM-33226.misc.rst b/doc/changes/DM-33226.misc.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a81334c22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/changes/DM-33226.misc.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+The ``Instrument.configPaths`` property can now refer to ``lsst.resources.ResourcePath`` URIs as well as strings (paths or URI strings).
diff --git a/python/lsst/pipe/base/_instrument.py b/python/lsst/pipe/base/_instrument.py
index 16c74a531..bd2f19f5c 100644
--- a/python/lsst/pipe/base/_instrument.py
+++ b/python/lsst/pipe/base/_instrument.py
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@
 
 import contextlib
 import datetime
-import os.path
 from abc import ABCMeta, abstractmethod
 from collections.abc import Sequence
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Self, cast, final
@@ -39,6 +38,7 @@
 from lsst.daf.butler import DataCoordinate, DataId, DimensionPacker, DimensionRecord, Formatter
 from lsst.daf.butler.registry import DataIdError
 from lsst.pex.config import Config, RegistryField
+from lsst.resources import ResourcePath, ResourcePathExpression
 from lsst.utils import doImportType
 from lsst.utils.introspection import get_full_type_name
 
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ class Instrument(metaclass=ABCMeta):
     the base class.
     """
 
-    configPaths: Sequence[str] = ()
+    configPaths: Sequence[ResourcePathExpression] = ()
     """Paths to config files to read for specific Tasks.
 
     The paths in this list should contain files of the form `task.py`, for
@@ -366,9 +366,10 @@ def applyConfigOverrides(self, name: str, config: Config) -> None:
             Config instance to which overrides should be applied.
         """
         for root in self.configPaths:
-            path = os.path.join(root, f"{name}.py")
-            if os.path.exists(path):
-                config.load(path)
+            resource = ResourcePath(root, forceDirectory=True, forceAbsolute=True)
+            uri = resource.join(f"{name}.py", forceDirectory=False)
+            if uri.exists():
+                config.load(uri)
 
     @staticmethod
     def formatCollectionTimestamp(timestamp: str | datetime.datetime) -> str: