diff --git a/src/bin/psql/command.c b/src/bin/psql/command.c
index d7cdcf6..bc3949e 100644
--- a/src/bin/psql/command.c
+++ b/src/bin/psql/command.c
@@ -785,7 +785,8 @@ exec_command(const char *cmd,
 
 
 	/* \i is include file */
-	else if (strcmp(cmd, "i") == 0 || strcmp(cmd, "include") == 0)
+	/* \ir is include file relative to currently processed file */
+	else if (strcmp(cmd, "i") == 0 || strcmp(cmd, "include") == 0 || strcmp(cmd, "ir") == 0)
 	{
 		char	   *fname = psql_scan_slash_option(scan_state,
 												   OT_NORMAL, NULL, true);
@@ -798,7 +799,7 @@ exec_command(const char *cmd,
 		else
 		{
 			expand_tilde(&fname);
-			success = (process_file(fname, false) == EXIT_SUCCESS);
+			success = (process_file(fname, false, (cmd[1] == 'r')) == EXIT_SUCCESS);
 			free(fname);
 		}
 	}
@@ -1971,14 +1972,18 @@ do_edit(const char *filename_arg, PQExpBuffer query_buf,
  * Read commands from filename and then them to the main processing loop
  * Handler for \i, but can be used for other things as well.  Returns
  * MainLoop() error code.
+ *
+ * If use_relative_path is true and filename is not an absolute path, then open
+ * the file from where the currently processed file (if any) is located.
  */
 int
-process_file(char *filename, bool single_txn)
+process_file(char *filename, bool single_txn, bool use_relative_path)
 {
 	FILE	   *fd;
 	int			result;
 	char	   *oldfilename;
 	PGresult   *res;
+	char	   *last_slash = NULL;
 
 	if (!filename)
 		return EXIT_FAILURE;
@@ -1986,6 +1991,29 @@ process_file(char *filename, bool single_txn)
 	if (strcmp(filename, "-") != 0)
 	{
 		canonicalize_path(filename);
+
+		if (use_relative_path && pset.inputfile)
+		{
+			/* find the / that splits the file from its path */
+			last_slash = strrchr(pset.inputfile, '/');
+
+			if (last_slash && !is_absolute_path(filename))
+			{
+				size_t dir_len = (last_slash - pset.inputfile) + 1;
+				size_t file_len = strlen(filename);
+
+				char *relative_file = pg_malloc(dir_len + 1 + file_len + 1);
+
+				relative_file[0] = '\0';
+				strncat(relative_file, pset.inputfile, dir_len);
+				strcat(relative_file, filename);
+
+				canonicalize_path(relative_file);
+
+				filename = relative_file;
+			}
+		}
+
 		fd = fopen(filename, PG_BINARY_R);
 	}
 	else
diff --git a/src/bin/psql/command.h b/src/bin/psql/command.h
index 852d645..9d0c31c 100644
--- a/src/bin/psql/command.h
+++ b/src/bin/psql/command.h
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ typedef enum _backslashResult
 extern backslashResult HandleSlashCmds(PsqlScanState scan_state,
 				PQExpBuffer query_buf);
 
-extern int	process_file(char *filename, bool single_txn);
+extern int	process_file(char *filename, bool single_txn, bool use_relative_path);
 
 extern bool do_pset(const char *param,
 		const char *value,
diff --git a/src/bin/psql/help.c b/src/bin/psql/help.c
index ac5edca..d459934 100644
--- a/src/bin/psql/help.c
+++ b/src/bin/psql/help.c
@@ -184,6 +184,7 @@ slashUsage(unsigned short int pager)
 	fprintf(output, _("  \\copy ...              perform SQL COPY with data stream to the client host\n"));
 	fprintf(output, _("  \\echo [STRING]         write string to standard output\n"));
 	fprintf(output, _("  \\i FILE                execute commands from file\n"));
+	fprintf(output, _("  \\ir FILE               execute commands from FILE, placed relative to currently processing file\n"));
 	fprintf(output, _("  \\o [FILE]              send all query results to file or |pipe\n"));
 	fprintf(output, _("  \\qecho [STRING]        write string to query output stream (see \\o)\n"));
 	fprintf(output, "\n");
diff --git a/src/bin/psql/startup.c b/src/bin/psql/startup.c
index 7b8078c..3c17eec 100644
--- a/src/bin/psql/startup.c
+++ b/src/bin/psql/startup.c
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		if (!options.no_psqlrc)
 			process_psqlrc(argv[0]);
 
-		successResult = process_file(options.action_string, options.single_txn);
+		successResult = process_file(options.action_string, options.single_txn, false);
 	}
 
 	/*
@@ -604,9 +604,9 @@ process_psqlrc_file(char *filename)
 	sprintf(psqlrc, "%s-%s", filename, PG_VERSION);
 
 	if (access(psqlrc, R_OK) == 0)
-		(void) process_file(psqlrc, false);
+		(void) process_file(psqlrc, false, false);
 	else if (access(filename, R_OK) == 0)
-		(void) process_file(filename, false);
+		(void) process_file(filename, false, false);
 	free(psqlrc);
 }