diff --git a/bindings/python/mapnik_map.cpp b/bindings/python/mapnik_map.cpp
index 8c8e930dd..3a69f0be5 100644
--- a/bindings/python/mapnik_map.cpp
+++ b/bindings/python/mapnik_map.cpp
@@ -69,17 +69,17 @@ struct map_pickle_suite : boost::python::pickle_suite
             s.append(style_pair);
         }
 
-        return boost::python::make_tuple(m.get_current_extent(),m.background(),l,s);
+        return boost::python::make_tuple(m.get_current_extent(),m.background(),l,s,m.base_path());
     }
 
     static void
     setstate (Map& m, boost::python::tuple state)
     {
         using namespace boost::python;
-        if (len(state) != 4)
+        if (len(state) != 5)
         {
             PyErr_SetObject(PyExc_ValueError,
-                            ("expected 4-item tuple in call to __setstate__; got %s"
+                            ("expected 5-item tuple in call to __setstate__; got %s"
                              % state).ptr()
                 );
             throw_error_already_set();
@@ -107,6 +107,12 @@ struct map_pickle_suite : boost::python::pickle_suite
             mapnik::feature_type_style style = extract<mapnik::feature_type_style>(style_pair[1]);
             m.insert_style(name, style);
         }
+
+        if (state[4])
+        {
+            std::string base_path = extract<std::string>(state[4]);
+            m.set_base_path(base_path);
+        }    
     }
 };
 
@@ -464,6 +470,16 @@ void export_map()
                       "Usage:\n"
                       ">>> m.background = Color('steelblue')\n"
             )
+
+        .add_property("base",
+                      make_function(&Map::base_path,return_value_policy<copy_const_reference>()),
+                      &Map::set_base_path,
+                      "The base path of the map where any files using relative \n"
+                      "paths will be interpreted as relative to.\n"
+                      "\n"
+                      "Usage:\n"
+                      ">>> m.base_path = '.'\n"
+            )
         
         .add_property("buffer_size",
                       &Map::buffer_size,
diff --git a/include/mapnik/load_map.hpp b/include/mapnik/load_map.hpp
index 95dc91e9a..84d35a19f 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/load_map.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/load_map.hpp
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 namespace mapnik
 {
 MAPNIK_DECL void load_map(Map & map, std::string const& filename, bool strict = false);
-MAPNIK_DECL void load_map_string(Map & map, std::string const& str, bool strict = false, std::string const& base_url="");
+MAPNIK_DECL void load_map_string(Map & map, std::string const& str, bool strict = false, std::string const& base_path="");
 }
 
 #endif // LOAD_MAP_HPP
diff --git a/include/mapnik/map.hpp b/include/mapnik/map.hpp
index cfd9ad516..9cc58116f 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/map.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/map.hpp
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ private:
     aspect_fix_mode aspectFixMode_;
     box2d<double> current_extent_;
     boost::optional<box2d<double> > maximum_extent_;
+    std::string base_path_;
     parameters extra_attr_;
         
 public:
@@ -341,6 +342,15 @@ public:
     */
     boost::optional<box2d<double> > const& maximum_extent() const;
 
+    /*! \brief Get the map base path where paths should be relative to.
+     */
+    std::string const& base_path() const;
+
+    /*! \brief Set the map base path where paths should be releative to.
+     *  @param srs Map base_path.
+     */
+    void set_base_path(std::string const& base);
+
     /*! \brief Zoom the map at the current position.
      *  @param factor The factor how much the map is zoomed in or out.
      */
diff --git a/src/load_map.cpp b/src/load_map.cpp
index c006883f3..11fb6370c 100644
--- a/src/load_map.cpp
+++ b/src/load_map.cpp
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ public:
         relative_to_xml_(true),
         font_manager_(font_engine_) {}
 
-    void parse_map(Map & map, ptree const & sty);
+    void parse_map(Map & map, ptree const & sty, std::string const& base_path="");
 private:
     void parse_map_include( Map & map, ptree const & include);
     void parse_style(Map & map, ptree const & sty);
@@ -146,15 +146,19 @@ void load_map(Map & map, std::string const& filename, bool strict)
     parser.parse_map(map, pt);
 }
 
-void load_map_string(Map & map, std::string const& str, bool strict, std::string const& base_url)
+void load_map_string(Map & map, std::string const& str, bool strict, std::string const& base_path)
 {
     ptree pt;
 #ifdef HAVE_LIBXML2
-    read_xml2_string(str, pt, base_url);
+    if (!base_path.empty())
+        read_xml2_string(str, pt, base_path); // accept base_path passed into function
+    else
+        read_xml2_string(str, pt, map.base_path()); // default to map base_path
 #else
     try
     {
         std::istringstream s(str);
+        // TODO - support base_path?
         read_xml(s,pt);
     }
     catch (const boost::property_tree::xml_parser_error & ex)
@@ -163,11 +167,11 @@ void load_map_string(Map & map, std::string const& str, bool strict, std::string
     }
 #endif
 
-    map_parser parser( strict, base_url);
-    parser.parse_map(map, pt);
+    map_parser parser( strict, base_path);
+    parser.parse_map(map, pt, base_path);
 }
 
-void map_parser::parse_map( Map & map, ptree const & pt )
+void map_parser::parse_map( Map & map, ptree const & pt, std::string const& base_path )
 {
     try
     {
@@ -181,7 +185,8 @@ void map_parser::parse_map( Map & map, ptree const & pt )
           << "paths-from-xml,"
           << "minimum-version,"
           << "font-directory,"
-          << "maximum-extent";
+          << "maximum-extent,"
+          << "base";
         ensure_attrs(map_node, "Map", s.str());
         
         try
@@ -196,6 +201,28 @@ void map_parser::parse_map( Map & map, ptree const & pt )
                 relative_to_xml_ = *paths_from_xml;
             }
 
+            optional<std::string> base_path_from_xml = get_opt_attr<std::string>(map_node, "base");
+            if (!base_path.empty())
+            {
+                map.set_base_path( base_path );
+            }
+            else if (base_path_from_xml)
+            {
+                map.set_base_path( *base_path_from_xml );
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                boost::filesystem::path xml_path(filename_);
+                // TODO - should we make this absolute?
+                #if (BOOST_FILESYSTEM_VERSION == 3)
+                    std::string const& base = xml_path.parent_path().string();
+                #else // v2
+                    std::string const& base = xml_path.branch_path().string();
+                #endif
+
+                map.set_base_path( base ); 
+            }
+
             optional<color> bgcolor = get_opt_attr<color>(map_node, "background-color");
             if (bgcolor) 
             {
@@ -2093,7 +2120,8 @@ std::string map_parser::ensure_relative_to_xml( boost::optional<std::string> opt
         if ( !rel_path.has_root_path() ) 
         {
     #if (BOOST_FILESYSTEM_VERSION == 3)
-            boost::filesystem::path full = boost::filesystem::absolute(xml_path.branch_path()/rel_path).normalize();
+            // TODO - normalize is now deprecated, use make_preferred?
+            boost::filesystem::path full = boost::filesystem::absolute(xml_path.parent_path()/rel_path);
     #else // v2
             boost::filesystem::path full = boost::filesystem::complete(xml_path.branch_path()/rel_path).normalize();
     #endif
diff --git a/src/save_map.cpp b/src/save_map.cpp
index c31c5d297..8800514c6 100644
--- a/src/save_map.cpp
+++ b/src/save_map.cpp
@@ -834,13 +834,18 @@ void serialize_map(ptree & pt, Map const & map, bool explicit_defaults)
         set_attr( map_node, "background-image", *image_filename );
     }
     
-    
     unsigned buffer_size = map.buffer_size();
     if ( buffer_size || explicit_defaults)
     {
         set_attr( map_node, "buffer-size", buffer_size ); 
     }
 
+    std::string const& base_path = map.base_path();
+    if ( !base_path.empty() || explicit_defaults)
+    {
+        set_attr( map_node, "base", base_path ); 
+    }
+
     optional<box2d<double> > const& maximum_extent = map.maximum_extent();
     if ( maximum_extent)
     {