diff --git a/lua/nvim-tree/renderer/init.lua b/lua/nvim-tree/renderer/init.lua
index 41702287..4e9f9bcf 100644
--- a/lua/nvim-tree/renderer/init.lua
+++ b/lua/nvim-tree/renderer/init.lua
@@ -249,16 +249,15 @@ local picture = {
   gif = true,
 }
 
-local special = vim.g.nvim_tree_special_files or {
-  ["Cargo.toml"] = true,
-  Makefile = true,
-  ["README.md"] = true,
-  ["readme.md"] = true,
-}
-
-local root_folder_modifier = vim.g.nvim_tree_root_folder_modifier or ':~'
-
 local function update_draw_data(tree, depth, markers)
+  local root_folder_modifier = vim.g.nvim_tree_root_folder_modifier or ':~'
+  local special = vim.g.nvim_tree_special_files or {
+    ["Cargo.toml"] = true,
+    Makefile = true,
+    ["README.md"] = true,
+    ["readme.md"] = true,
+  }
+
   if tree.cwd and tree.cwd ~= '/' then
     local root_name = utils.path_join({
       utils.path_remove_trailing(vim.fn.fnamemodify(tree.cwd, root_folder_modifier)),