diff --git a/examples/collect_links/collect_links.rs b/examples/collect_links/collect_links.rs
index fbff5f5..fc97cbd 100644
--- a/examples/collect_links/collect_links.rs
+++ b/examples/collect_links/collect_links.rs
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
     ];
 
     let links = Collector::new(
-        None,  // base_url
-        false, // don't skip missing inputs
+        None, // base_url
+        None, false, // don't skip missing inputs
         10,    // max concurrency
     )
     .collect_links(
diff --git a/lychee-bin/src/main.rs b/lychee-bin/src/main.rs
index 535fa1a..585159f 100644
--- a/lychee-bin/src/main.rs
+++ b/lychee-bin/src/main.rs
@@ -197,10 +197,15 @@ async fn run(cfg: &Config, inputs: Vec<Input>) -> Result<i32> {
         .client()
         .map_err(|e| anyhow!(e))?;
 
-    let links = Collector::new(cfg.base_url.clone(), cfg.skip_missing, max_concurrency)
-        .collect_links(&inputs)
-        .await
-        .map_err(|e| anyhow!(e))?;
+    let links = Collector::new(
+        cfg.base_url.clone(),
+        cfg.base_dir.clone(),
+        cfg.skip_missing,
+        max_concurrency,
+    )
+    .collect_links(&inputs)
+    .await
+    .map_err(|e| anyhow!(e))?;
 
     let pb = if cfg.no_progress {
         None
diff --git a/lychee-bin/src/options.rs b/lychee-bin/src/options.rs
index ab463df..07b62d2 100644
--- a/lychee-bin/src/options.rs
+++ b/lychee-bin/src/options.rs
@@ -218,7 +218,12 @@ pub(crate) struct Config {
     pub(crate) method: String,
 
     /// Base URL to check relative URLs
-    #[structopt(short, long, parse(try_from_str))]
+    #[structopt(long, parse(try_from_str))]
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub(crate) base_dir: Option<PathBuf>,
+
+    /// Base URL to check relative URLs
+    #[structopt(long, parse(try_from_str))]
     #[serde(default)]
     pub(crate) base_url: Option<Url>,
 
diff --git a/lychee-lib/src/collector.rs b/lychee-lib/src/collector.rs
index 31416cc..232ddb0 100644
--- a/lychee-lib/src/collector.rs
+++ b/lychee-lib/src/collector.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 use crate::{extract::extract_links, uri::Uri, Input, Request, Result};
 use reqwest::Url;
-use std::collections::HashSet;
+use std::{collections::HashSet, path::PathBuf};
 
 /// Collector keeps the state of link collection
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 pub struct Collector {
     base_url: Option<Url>,
+    base_dir: Option<PathBuf>,
     skip_missing_inputs: bool,
     max_concurrency: usize,
     cache: HashSet<Uri>,
@@ -14,9 +15,15 @@ pub struct Collector {
 impl Collector {
     /// Create a new collector with an empty cache
     #[must_use]
-    pub fn new(base_url: Option<Url>, skip_missing_inputs: bool, max_concurrency: usize) -> Self {
+    pub fn new(
+        base_url: Option<Url>,
+        base_dir: Option<PathBuf>,
+        skip_missing_inputs: bool,
+        max_concurrency: usize,
+    ) -> Self {
         Collector {
             base_url,
+            base_dir,
             skip_missing_inputs,
             max_concurrency,
             cache: HashSet::new(),
@@ -52,8 +59,10 @@ impl Collector {
         while let Some(result) = contents_rx.recv().await {
             for input_content in result? {
                 let base_url = self.base_url.clone();
-                let handle =
-                    tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || extract_links(&input_content, &base_url));
+                let base_dir = self.base_dir.clone();
+                let handle = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
+                    extract_links(&input_content, &base_url, &base_dir)
+                });
                 extract_links_handles.push(handle);
             }
         }
@@ -160,7 +169,7 @@ mod test {
             },
         ];
 
-        let responses = Collector::new(None, false, 8)
+        let responses = Collector::new(None, None, false, 8)
             .collect_links(&inputs)
             .await?;
         let mut links = responses.into_iter().map(|r| r.uri).collect::<Vec<Uri>>();
diff --git a/lychee-lib/src/extract.rs b/lychee-lib/src/extract.rs
index 1dd310b..5bfafae 100644
--- a/lychee-lib/src/extract.rs
+++ b/lychee-lib/src/extract.rs
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ use pulldown_cmark::{Event as MDEvent, Parser, Tag};
 use url::Url;
 
 use crate::{
+    fs_tree,
     types::{FileType, InputContent},
     Input, Request, Result, Uri,
 };
@@ -106,6 +107,7 @@ fn extract_links_from_plaintext(input: &str) -> Vec<String> {
 pub(crate) fn extract_links(
     input_content: &InputContent,
     base_url: &Option<Url>,
+    base_dir: &Option<PathBuf>,
 ) -> Result<HashSet<Request>> {
     let links = match input_content.file_type {
         FileType::Markdown => extract_links_from_markdown(&input_content.content),
@@ -125,9 +127,9 @@ pub(crate) fn extract_links(
                 input_content.input.clone(),
             ));
         } else if let Input::FsPath(root) = &input_content.input {
-            if let Ok(path) = crate::fs_tree::find(&root, &PathBuf::from(&link)) {
+            if let Ok(path) = fs_tree::find(&root, &PathBuf::from(&link), base_dir) {
                 let input_content = Input::path_content(path)?;
-                requests.extend(extract_links(&input_content, base_url)?);
+                requests.extend(extract_links(&input_content, base_url, base_dir)?);
             } else {
                 info!("Cannot find path to {} in filesystem", &link);
             }
@@ -183,6 +185,7 @@ mod test {
         extract_links(
             &InputContent::from_string(input, file_type),
             &base_url.map(|u| Url::parse(u).unwrap()),
+            &None,
         )
         // unwrap is fine here as this helper function is only used in tests
         .unwrap()
diff --git a/lychee-lib/src/fs_tree.rs b/lychee-lib/src/fs_tree.rs
index b3255ea..44c9791 100644
--- a/lychee-lib/src/fs_tree.rs
+++ b/lychee-lib/src/fs_tree.rs
@@ -1,18 +1,30 @@
 use crate::{ErrorKind, Result};
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 
-pub(crate) fn find(root: &Path, dst: &Path) -> Result<PathBuf> {
+pub(crate) fn find(src: &Path, dst: &Path, base_dir: &Option<PathBuf>) -> Result<PathBuf> {
     if dst.exists() {
         return Ok(dst.to_path_buf());
     }
     if dst.is_dir() {
         return Err(ErrorKind::FileNotFound(dst.into()));
     }
-    // Find `dst` in the `root` path
-    if let Some(parent) = root.parent() {
-        let rel = parent.join(dst.to_path_buf());
-        if rel.exists() {
-            return Ok(rel);
+    if dst.is_absolute() {
+        // Absolute local links (leading slash) require the base_url to
+        // define the document root.
+        if let Some(base_dir) = base_dir {
+            let absolute = base_dir.join(dst.to_path_buf());
+            if absolute.exists() {
+                return Ok(absolute);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    if dst.is_relative() {
+        // Find `dst` in the `root` path
+        if let Some(parent) = src.parent() {
+            let relative = parent.join(dst.to_path_buf());
+            if relative.exists() {
+                return Ok(relative);
+            }
         }
     }
     Err(ErrorKind::FileNotFound(dst.to_path_buf()))
@@ -33,7 +45,7 @@ mod test_fs_tree {
         let dir = tempfile::tempdir()?;
         let dst = dir.path().join("foo.html");
         File::create(&dst)?;
-        assert_eq!(find(&dummy, &dst)?, dst);
+        assert_eq!(find(&dummy, &dst, &None)?, dst);
         Ok(())
     }
 
@@ -45,7 +57,7 @@ mod test_fs_tree {
         let dir = tempfile::tempdir()?;
         let dst = dir.path().join("./foo.html");
         File::create(&dst)?;
-        assert_eq!(find(&root, &dst)?, dst);
+        assert_eq!(find(&root, &dst, &None)?, dst);
         Ok(())
     }
 
@@ -57,7 +69,7 @@ mod test_fs_tree {
         let dir = tempfile::tempdir()?;
         let dst = dir.path().join("./foo.html");
         File::create(&dst)?;
-        assert_eq!(find(&root, &dst)?, dst);
+        assert_eq!(find(&root, &dst, &None)?, dst);
         Ok(())
     }
 
@@ -66,7 +78,7 @@ mod test_fs_tree {
         let root = PathBuf::from("index.html");
         // This file does not exist
         let dst = PathBuf::from("./foo.html");
-        assert!(find(&root, &dst).is_err());
+        assert!(find(&root, &dst, &None).is_err());
         Ok(())
     }
 
@@ -81,7 +93,22 @@ mod test_fs_tree {
         let dst = PathBuf::from("./foo.html");
         let dst_absolute = dir.path().join("./foo.html");
         File::create(&dst_absolute)?;
-        assert_eq!(find(&root, &dst)?, dst_absolute);
+        assert_eq!(find(&root, &dst, &None)?, dst_absolute);
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    // dummy
+    // ./foo.html
+    // valid base dir
+    #[test]
+    fn test_find_absolute_from_base_dir() -> Result<()> {
+        let dummy = PathBuf::new();
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir()?;
+        let dst = dir.path().join("foo.html");
+        File::create(&dst)?;
+        let base_dir = dir.path().to_path_buf();
+        let dst_absolute = base_dir.join(dst.to_path_buf());
+        assert_eq!(find(&dummy, &dst, &Some(base_dir))?, dst_absolute);
         Ok(())
     }
 
@@ -94,7 +121,7 @@ mod test_fs_tree {
         // We create the absolute path to foo.html,
         // but we address it under its relative path
         let dst = PathBuf::from("./foo.html");
-        assert!(find(&root, &dst).is_err());
+        assert!(find(&root, &dst, &None).is_err());
         Ok(())
     }
 
@@ -106,7 +133,7 @@ mod test_fs_tree {
         let dir = tempfile::tempdir()?;
         let dst = dir.path().join("foo.html");
         File::create(&dst)?;
-        assert_eq!(find(&root, &dst)?, dst);
+        assert_eq!(find(&root, &dst, &None)?, dst);
         Ok(())
     }
 
@@ -118,7 +145,7 @@ mod test_fs_tree {
         let dir = tempfile::tempdir()?;
         let dst = dir.path().join("foo.html");
         File::create(&dst)?;
-        assert_eq!(find(&root, &dst)?, dst);
+        assert_eq!(find(&root, &dst, &None)?, dst);
         Ok(())
     }
 
@@ -129,7 +156,7 @@ mod test_fs_tree {
         let root = PathBuf::from("/path/to/");
         let dir = tempfile::tempdir()?;
         File::create(&dir)?;
-        assert!(find(&root, &dir.into_path()).is_err());
+        assert!(find(&root, &dir.into_path(), &None).is_err());
         Ok(())
     }
 }