pattrstorage & runtime

If I have patch 'potzrebie", containing a pattrstorage with the first
argument of "niblick", it will open a file "niblick.xml", and load my
presets. Fantastic. However, if I run potzrebie in runtime, with
niblick.xml in the same folder, it will only reliably load
niblick.xml if I launch runtime first,and then launch the patch. the
more complex the patch, the more likely this is to happen. Yes, I'm
delaying the loadbang that recalls the settings. As far as I can
tell, it won't always load the xml file at all. If I explicitly tell
patrstorage to load niblick.xml, and then recall a preset, that works
fine, but just putting it in as an argument isn't reliable. Is this
expected behaviour?

Macbook pro, 10.4.8, max 4.6, but the same problem on my client's PPC
minis.....

thanks,

M