diff --git a/src/OptionHandlerFactory.cc b/src/OptionHandlerFactory.cc
index 4e8d3ed3..f518adb5 100644
--- a/src/OptionHandlerFactory.cc
+++ b/src/OptionHandlerFactory.cc
@@ -1692,6 +1692,14 @@ OptionHandlers OptionHandlerFactory::createOptionHandlers()
     op->addTag(TAG_METALINK);
     handlers.push_back(op);
   }
+  {
+    SharedHandle<OptionHandler> op(new DefaultOptionHandler
+                                   (PREF_METALINK_BASE_URI,
+                                    TEXT_METALINK_BASE_URI,
+                                    NO_DEFAULT_VALUE));
+    op->addTag(TAG_METALINK);
+    handlers.push_back(op);
+  }
   {
     SharedHandle<OptionHandler> op(new BooleanOptionHandler
                                    (PREF_METALINK_ENABLE_UNIQUE_PROTOCOL,
diff --git a/src/download_helper.cc b/src/download_helper.cc
index 1ccf4464..b31bc992 100644
--- a/src/download_helper.cc
+++ b/src/download_helper.cc
@@ -352,11 +352,13 @@ void createRequestGroupForMetalink
   if(metalinkData.empty()) {
     Metalink2RequestGroup().generate(result,
                                      option->get(PREF_METALINK_FILE),
-                                     option);
+                                     option,
+                                     option->get(PREF_METALINK_BASE_URI));
   } else {
     SharedHandle<ByteArrayDiskWriter> dw(new ByteArrayDiskWriter());
     dw->setString(metalinkData);
-    Metalink2RequestGroup().generate(result, dw, option);
+    Metalink2RequestGroup().generate(result, dw, option,
+                                     option->get(PREF_METALINK_BASE_URI));
   }
 }
 #endif // ENABLE_METALINK
@@ -417,7 +419,8 @@ public:
 #ifdef ENABLE_METALINK
     else if(!ignoreLocalPath_ && detector_.guessMetalinkFile(uri)) {
       try {
-        Metalink2RequestGroup().generate(requestGroups_, uri, option_);
+        Metalink2RequestGroup().generate(requestGroups_, uri, option_,
+                                         option_->get(PREF_METALINK_BASE_URI));
       } catch(RecoverableException& e) {
         if(throwOnError_) {
           throw;
diff --git a/src/main.cc b/src/main.cc
index fd621a2b..ce0657df 100644
--- a/src/main.cc
+++ b/src/main.cc
@@ -130,7 +130,8 @@ void showMetalinkFile
 (const std::string& uri, const SharedHandle<Option>& op)
 {
   std::vector<SharedHandle<MetalinkEntry> > metalinkEntries;
-  metalink::parseAndQuery(metalinkEntries, uri, op.get());
+  metalink::parseAndQuery(metalinkEntries, uri, op.get(),
+                          op->get(PREF_METALINK_BASE_URI));
   std::vector<SharedHandle<FileEntry> > fileEntries;
   MetalinkEntry::toFileEntry(fileEntries, metalinkEntries);
   util::toStream(fileEntries.begin(), fileEntries.end(), std::cout);
diff --git a/src/prefs.cc b/src/prefs.cc
index b3e968f4..9e14002a 100644
--- a/src/prefs.cc
+++ b/src/prefs.cc
@@ -423,5 +423,6 @@ const std::string V_HTTPS("https");
 const std::string V_FTP("ftp");
 // values: true | false
 const std::string PREF_METALINK_ENABLE_UNIQUE_PROTOCOL("metalink-enable-unique-protocol");
+const std::string PREF_METALINK_BASE_URI("metalink-base-uri");
 
 } // namespace aria2
diff --git a/src/prefs.h b/src/prefs.h
index e007cd68..33f6c556 100644
--- a/src/prefs.h
+++ b/src/prefs.h
@@ -427,6 +427,8 @@ extern const std::string V_HTTPS;
 extern const std::string V_FTP;
 // values: true | false
 extern const std::string PREF_METALINK_ENABLE_UNIQUE_PROTOCOL;
+// values: a string
+extern const std::string PREF_METALINK_BASE_URI;
 
 } // namespace aria2
 
diff --git a/src/usage_text.h b/src/usage_text.h
index 28a387bb..cd956c87 100644
--- a/src/usage_text.h
+++ b/src/usage_text.h
@@ -782,3 +782,8 @@
   _(" --xml-rpc-listen-port=PORT   Deprecated. Use --rpc-listen-port instead.")
 #define TEXT_SHOW_CONSOLE_READOUT                                       \
   _(" --show-console-readout[=true|false] Show console readout.")
+#define TEXT_METALINK_BASE_URI                  \
+  _(" --metalink-base-uri=URI      Specify base URI to resolve relative URI in\n" \
+    "                              metalink:url and metalink:metaurl element in a\n" \
+    "                              metalink file stored in local disk. If URI points\n" \
+    "                              to a directory, URI must end with '/'.")