diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 82b387725..071f850ec 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 * 1.27.0 (2016-XX-XX)
 
+ * fixed the filesystem loader with relative paths
  * deprecated Twig_Node::getLine() in favor of Twig_Node::getTemplateLine()
  * deprecated Twig_Template::getSource() in favor of Twig_Template::getSourceContext()
  * deprecated Twig_Node::getFilename() in favor of Twig_Node::getTemplateName()
diff --git a/doc/api.rst b/doc/api.rst
index 125128026..27af74f81 100644
--- a/doc/api.rst
+++ b/doc/api.rst
@@ -156,6 +156,9 @@ Here is a list of the built-in loaders Twig provides:
 .. versionadded:: 1.10
     The ``prependPath()`` and support for namespaces were added in Twig 1.10.
 
+.. versionadded:: 1.27
+    Relative paths support was added in Twig 1.27.
+
 ``Twig_Loader_Filesystem`` loads templates from the file system. This loader
 can find templates in folders on the file system and is the preferred way to
 load them::
@@ -190,6 +193,18 @@ Namespaced templates can be accessed via the special
 
     $twig->render('@admin/index.html', array());
 
+``Twig_Loader_Filesystem`` support absolute and relative paths. Using relative
+paths is preferred as it makes the cache keys independent of the project root
+directory (for instance, it allows warming the cache from a build server where
+the directory might be different from the one used on production servers)::
+
+    $loader = new Twig_Loader_Filesystem('templates', getcwd().'/..');
+
+.. note::
+
+    When not passing the root path as a second argument, Twig uses ``getcwd()``
+    for relative paths.
+
 ``Twig_Loader_Array``
 .....................
 
diff --git a/lib/Twig/Loader/Filesystem.php b/lib/Twig/Loader/Filesystem.php
index ac14d2783..d64656e13 100644
--- a/lib/Twig/Loader/Filesystem.php
+++ b/lib/Twig/Loader/Filesystem.php
@@ -23,13 +23,21 @@ class Twig_Loader_Filesystem implements Twig_LoaderInterface, Twig_ExistsLoaderI
     protected $cache = array();
     protected $errorCache = array();
 
+    private $rootPath;
+
     /**
      * Constructor.
      *
-     * @param string|array $paths A path or an array of paths where to look for templates
+     * @param string|array $paths    A path or an array of paths where to look for templates
+     * @param string|null  $rootPath The root path common to all relative paths (null for getcwd())
      */
-    public function __construct($paths = array())
+    public function __construct($paths = array(), $rootPath = null)
     {
+        $this->rootPath = (null === $rootPath ? getcwd() : $rootPath).DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
+        if (false !== $realPath = realpath($rootPath)) {
+            $this->rootPath = $realPath.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
+        }
+
         if ($paths) {
             $this->setPaths($paths);
         }
@@ -81,7 +89,7 @@ class Twig_Loader_Filesystem implements Twig_LoaderInterface, Twig_ExistsLoaderI
      * Adds a path where templates are stored.
      *
      * @param string $path      A path where to look for templates
-     * @param string $namespace A path name
+     * @param string $namespace A path namespace
      *
      * @throws Twig_Error_Loader
      */
@@ -90,8 +98,9 @@ class Twig_Loader_Filesystem implements Twig_LoaderInterface, Twig_ExistsLoaderI
         // invalidate the cache
         $this->cache = $this->errorCache = array();
 
-        if (!is_dir($path)) {
-            throw new Twig_Error_Loader(sprintf('The "%s" directory does not exist.', $path));
+        $checkPath = $this->isAbsolutePath($path) ? $path : $this->rootPath.$path;
+        if (!is_dir($checkPath)) {
+            throw new Twig_Error_Loader(sprintf('The "%s" directory does not exist ("%s").', $path, $checkPath));
         }
 
         $this->paths[$namespace][] = rtrim($path, '/\\');
@@ -101,7 +110,7 @@ class Twig_Loader_Filesystem implements Twig_LoaderInterface, Twig_ExistsLoaderI
      * Prepends a path where templates are stored.
      *
      * @param string $path      A path where to look for templates
-     * @param string $namespace A path name
+     * @param string $namespace A path namespace
      *
      * @throws Twig_Error_Loader
      */
@@ -110,8 +119,9 @@ class Twig_Loader_Filesystem implements Twig_LoaderInterface, Twig_ExistsLoaderI
         // invalidate the cache
         $this->cache = $this->errorCache = array();
 
-        if (!is_dir($path)) {
-            throw new Twig_Error_Loader(sprintf('The "%s" directory does not exist.', $path));
+        $checkPath = $this->isAbsolutePath($path) ? $path : $this->rootPath.$path;
+        if (!is_dir($checkPath)) {
+            throw new Twig_Error_Loader(sprintf('The "%s" directory does not exist ("%s").', $path, $checkPath));
         }
 
         $path = rtrim($path, '/\\');
@@ -146,7 +156,13 @@ class Twig_Loader_Filesystem implements Twig_LoaderInterface, Twig_ExistsLoaderI
      */
     public function getCacheKey($name)
     {
-        return $this->findTemplate($name);
+        $path = $this->findTemplate($name);
+        $len = strlen($this->rootPath);
+        if (0 === strncmp($this->rootPath, $path, $len)) {
+            return substr($path, $len);
+        }
+
+        return $path;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -209,8 +225,16 @@ class Twig_Loader_Filesystem implements Twig_LoaderInterface, Twig_ExistsLoaderI
         }
 
         foreach ($this->paths[$namespace] as $path) {
+            if (!$this->isAbsolutePath($path)) {
+                $path = $this->rootPath.'/'.$path;
+            }
+
             if (is_file($path.'/'.$shortname)) {
-                return $this->cache[$name] = $this->normalizePath($path.'/'.$shortname);
+                if (false !== $realpath = realpath($path.'/'.$shortname)) {
+                    return $this->cache[$name] = $realpath;
+                }
+
+                return $this->cache[$name] = $path.'/'.$shortname;
             }
         }
 
@@ -266,19 +290,14 @@ class Twig_Loader_Filesystem implements Twig_LoaderInterface, Twig_ExistsLoaderI
         }
     }
 
-    private function normalizePath($path)
+    private function isAbsolutePath($file)
     {
-        $parts = explode('/', str_replace('\\', '/', $path));
-        $hasProto = false !== strpos($path, '://');
-        $new = array();
-        foreach ($parts as $i => $part) {
-            if ('..' === $part) {
-                array_pop($new);
-            } elseif ('.' !== $part && ('' !== $part || 0 === $i || $hasProto && $i < 3)) {
-                $new[] = $part;
-            }
-        }
-
-        return implode('/', $new);
+        return strspn($file, '/\\', 0, 1)
+            || (strlen($file) > 3 && ctype_alpha($file[0])
+                && substr($file, 1, 1) === ':'
+                && strspn($file, '/\\', 2, 1)
+            )
+            || null !== parse_url($file, PHP_URL_SCHEME)
+        ;
     }
 }
diff --git a/test/Twig/Tests/Loader/FilesystemTest.php b/test/Twig/Tests/Loader/FilesystemTest.php
index 4af831f11..1e88b51e5 100644
--- a/test/Twig/Tests/Loader/FilesystemTest.php
+++ b/test/Twig/Tests/Loader/FilesystemTest.php
@@ -62,9 +62,9 @@ class Twig_Tests_Loader_FilesystemTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
     /**
      * @dataProvider getBasePaths
      */
-    public function testPaths($basePath)
+    public function testPaths($basePath, $cacheKey, $rootPath)
     {
-        $loader = new Twig_Loader_Filesystem(array($basePath.'/normal', $basePath.'/normal_bis'));
+        $loader = new Twig_Loader_Filesystem(array($basePath.'/normal', $basePath.'/normal_bis'), $rootPath);
         $loader->setPaths(array($basePath.'/named', $basePath.'/named_bis'), 'named');
         $loader->addPath($basePath.'/named_ter', 'named');
         $loader->addPath($basePath.'/normal_ter');
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ class Twig_Tests_Loader_FilesystemTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
         ), $loader->getPaths('named'));
 
         // do not use realpath here as it would make the test unuseful
-        $this->assertEquals(str_replace('\\', '/', $basePath.'/named_quater/named_absolute.html'), str_replace('\\', '/', $loader->getCacheKey('@named/named_absolute.html')));
+        $this->assertEquals($cacheKey, str_replace('\\', '/', $loader->getCacheKey('@named/named_absolute.html')));
         $this->assertEquals("path (final)\n", $loader->getSource('index.html'));
         $this->assertEquals("path (final)\n", $loader->getSource('@__main__/index.html'));
         $this->assertEquals("named path (final)\n", $loader->getSource('@named/index.html'));
@@ -96,8 +96,31 @@ class Twig_Tests_Loader_FilesystemTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
     public function getBasePaths()
     {
         return array(
-            array(dirname(__FILE__).'/Fixtures'),
-            array('test/Twig/Tests/Loader/Fixtures'),
+            array(
+                dirname(__FILE__).'/Fixtures',
+                'test/Twig/Tests/Loader/Fixtures/named_quater/named_absolute.html',
+                null,
+            ),
+            array(
+                dirname(__FILE__).'/Fixtures/../Fixtures',
+                'test/Twig/Tests/Loader/Fixtures/named_quater/named_absolute.html',
+                null,
+            ),
+            array(
+                'test/Twig/Tests/Loader/Fixtures',
+                'test/Twig/Tests/Loader/Fixtures/named_quater/named_absolute.html',
+                getcwd(),
+            ),
+            array(
+                'Fixtures',
+                'Fixtures/named_quater/named_absolute.html',
+                getcwd().'/test/Twig/Tests/Loader',
+            ),
+            array(
+                'Fixtures',
+                'Fixtures/named_quater/named_absolute.html',
+                getcwd().'/test/../test/Twig/Tests/Loader',
+            ),
         );
     }