diff --git a/python/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.sip b/python/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.sip
index 687df222497..9a81c771c3f 100644
--- a/python/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.sip
+++ b/python/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.sip
@@ -59,6 +59,31 @@ class QgsExternalResourceWidget : QWidget
     //! defines if the widget is readonly
     void setReadOnly( bool readOnly );
 
+    /**
+     * Configures if paths are handled absolute or relative and if relative,
+     * which should be the base path.
+     */
+    QgsFileWidget::RelativeStorage relativeStorage() const;
+
+    /**
+     * Configures if paths are handled absolute or relative and if relative,
+     * which should be the base path.
+     */
+    void setRelativeStorage( const QgsFileWidget::RelativeStorage& relativeStorage );
+
+
+    /**
+     * Configures the base path which should be used if the relativeStorage property
+     * is set to QgsFileWidget::RelativeDefaultPath.
+     */
+    QString defaultRoot() const;
+
+    /**
+     * Configures the base path which should be used if the relativeStorage property
+     * is set to QgsFileWidget::RelativeDefaultPath.
+     */
+    void setDefaultRoot(const QString& defaultRoot);
+
   signals:
     //! emitteed as soon as the current document changes
     void valueChanged( const QString& );
diff --git a/src/gui/editorwidgets/qgsexternalresourcewidgetwrapper.cpp b/src/gui/editorwidgets/qgsexternalresourcewidgetwrapper.cpp
index 36d7711a868..37507ebd40b 100644
--- a/src/gui/editorwidgets/qgsexternalresourcewidgetwrapper.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/editorwidgets/qgsexternalresourcewidgetwrapper.cpp
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ void QgsExternalResourceWidgetWrapper::initWidget( QWidget* editor )
     }
     if ( config().contains( "DefaultRoot" ) )
     {
-      mQgsWidget->fileWidget()->setDefaultRoot( config( "DefaultRoot" ).toString() );
+      mQgsWidget->setDefaultRoot( config( "DefaultRoot" ).toString() );
     }
     if ( config().contains( "StorageMode" ) )
     {
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ void QgsExternalResourceWidgetWrapper::initWidget( QWidget* editor )
     }
     if ( config().contains( "RelativeStorage" ) )
     {
-      mQgsWidget->fileWidget()->setRelativeStorage(( QgsFileWidget::RelativeStorage )config( "RelativeStorage" ).toInt() );
+      mQgsWidget->setRelativeStorage(( QgsFileWidget::RelativeStorage )config( "RelativeStorage" ).toInt() );
     }
     if ( config().contains( "FileWidget" ) )
     {
diff --git a/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.cpp b/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.cpp
index 560541042fe..69ffd1d580e 100644
--- a/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.cpp
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@
 
 #include "qgsexternalresourcewidget.h"
 #include "qgspixmaplabel.h"
+#include "qgsproject.h"
 
+#include <QDir>
 #include <QGridLayout>
 #include <QVariant>
 #include <QSettings>
@@ -31,6 +33,7 @@ QgsExternalResourceWidget::QgsExternalResourceWidget( QWidget *parent )
     , mDocumentViewerContent( NoContent )
     , mDocumentViewerHeight( 0 )
     , mDocumentViewerWidth( 0 )
+    , mRelativeStorage( QgsFileWidget::Absolute )
 
 {
   setBackgroundRole( QPalette::Window );
@@ -167,8 +170,48 @@ void QgsExternalResourceWidget::updateDocumentViewer()
   }
 }
 
+QString QgsExternalResourceWidget::resolvePath( const QString& path )
+{
+  switch ( mRelativeStorage )
+  {
+    case QgsFileWidget::Absolute:
+      return path;
+      break;
+    case QgsFileWidget::RelativeProject:
+      return QgsProject::instance()->fileInfo().dir().filePath( path );
+      break;
+    case QgsFileWidget::RelativeDefaultPath:
+      return QDir( mDefaultRoot ).filePath( path );
+      break;
+  }
+}
+
+QString QgsExternalResourceWidget::defaultRoot() const
+{
+  return mDefaultRoot;
+}
+
+void QgsExternalResourceWidget::setDefaultRoot( const QString& defaultRoot )
+{
+  mFileWidget->setDefaultRoot( defaultRoot );
+  mDefaultRoot = defaultRoot;
+}
+
+QgsFileWidget::RelativeStorage QgsExternalResourceWidget::relativeStorage() const
+{
+  return mRelativeStorage;
+}
+
+void QgsExternalResourceWidget::setRelativeStorage( const QgsFileWidget::RelativeStorage& relativeStorage )
+{
+  mFileWidget->setRelativeStorage( relativeStorage );
+  mRelativeStorage = relativeStorage;
+}
+
 void QgsExternalResourceWidget::loadDocument( const QString& path )
 {
+  QString resolvedPath;
+
   if ( path.isEmpty() )
   {
 #ifdef WITH_QTWEBKIT
@@ -183,20 +226,23 @@ void QgsExternalResourceWidget::loadDocument( const QString& path )
       updateDocumentViewer();
     }
   }
-
+  else
+  {
+    resolvedPath = resolvePath( path );
 
 #ifdef WITH_QTWEBKIT
-  if ( mDocumentViewerContent == Web )
-  {
-    mWebView->setUrl( QUrl( path ) );
-  }
+    if ( mDocumentViewerContent == Web )
+    {
+      mWebView->setUrl( QUrl( resolvedPath ) );
+    }
 #endif
 
-  if ( mDocumentViewerContent == Image )
-  {
-    QPixmap pm( path );
-    mPixmapLabel->setPixmap( pm );
-    updateDocumentViewer();
+    if ( mDocumentViewerContent == Image )
+    {
+      QPixmap pm( resolvedPath );
+      mPixmapLabel->setPixmap( pm );
+      updateDocumentViewer();
+    }
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.h b/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.h
index da679e4c73d..e5f0fe828fc 100644
--- a/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.h
+++ b/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.h
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ class GUI_EXPORT QgsExternalResourceWidget : public QWidget
     Q_PROPERTY( DocumentViewerContent documentViewerContent READ documentViewerContent WRITE setDocumentViewerContent )
     Q_PROPERTY( int documentViewerHeight READ documentViewerHeight WRITE setDocumentViewerHeight )
     Q_PROPERTY( int documentViewerWidth READ documentViewerWidth WRITE setDocumentViewerWidth )
+    Q_PROPERTY( QgsFileWidget::RelativeStorage relativeStorage READ relativeStorage WRITE setRelativeStorage )
+    Q_PROPERTY( QString defaultRoot READ defaultRoot WRITE setDefaultRoot )
 
   public:
     enum DocumentViewerContent
@@ -94,6 +96,31 @@ class GUI_EXPORT QgsExternalResourceWidget : public QWidget
     //! defines if the widget is readonly
     void setReadOnly( bool readOnly );
 
+    /**
+     * Configures if paths are handled absolute or relative and if relative,
+     * which should be the base path.
+     */
+    QgsFileWidget::RelativeStorage relativeStorage() const;
+
+    /**
+     * Configures if paths are handled absolute or relative and if relative,
+     * which should be the base path.
+     */
+    void setRelativeStorage( const QgsFileWidget::RelativeStorage& relativeStorage );
+
+
+    /**
+     * Configures the base path which should be used if the relativeStorage property
+     * is set to QgsFileWidget::RelativeDefaultPath.
+     */
+    QString defaultRoot() const;
+
+    /**
+     * Configures the base path which should be used if the relativeStorage property
+     * is set to QgsFileWidget::RelativeDefaultPath.
+     */
+    void setDefaultRoot( const QString& defaultRoot );
+
   signals:
     //! emitteed as soon as the current document changes
     void valueChanged( const QString& );
@@ -104,11 +131,15 @@ class GUI_EXPORT QgsExternalResourceWidget : public QWidget
   private:
     void updateDocumentViewer();
 
+    QString resolvePath( const QString& path );
+
     //! properties
     bool mFileWidgetVisible;
     DocumentViewerContent mDocumentViewerContent;
     int mDocumentViewerHeight;
     int mDocumentViewerWidth;
+    QgsFileWidget::RelativeStorage mRelativeStorage;
+    QString mDefaultRoot; // configured default root path for QgsFileWidget::RelativeStorage::RelativeDefaultPath
 
     //! UI objects
     QgsFileWidget* mFileWidget;