diff --git a/ks.c b/ks.c
index f9d72d8..f3acb3d 100644
--- a/ks.c
+++ b/ks.c
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 				return 1;
 			}
 			filename = &optarg[colon - optarg + 1];
-			ret = load_sahara_image(filename, &mappings[file_id]);
+			ret = load_sahara_image(filename, &mappings[file_id], NULL);
 			if (ret < 0)
 				return 1;
 
diff --git a/patch.c b/patch.c
index 5c21c7a..23f7006 100644
--- a/patch.c
+++ b/patch.c
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 static struct list_head patches = LIST_INIT(patches);
 static bool patches_loaded;
 
-int patch_load(const char *patch_file)
+int patch_load(const char *patch_file, const char *incdir)
 {
 	struct patch *patch;
 	xmlNode *node;
@@ -24,11 +24,16 @@ int patch_load(const char *patch_file)
 	xmlDoc *doc;
 	int errors;
 
-	doc = xmlReadFile(patch_file, NULL, 0);
+	char *patch_file_resolved = strdup(patch_file);
+
+	resolve_path(&patch_file_resolved, incdir);
+	doc = xmlReadFile(patch_file_resolved, NULL, 0);
 	if (!doc) {
 		ux_err("failed to parse patch-type file \"%s\"\n", patch_file);
+		free(patch_file_resolved);
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
+	free(patch_file_resolved);
 
 	root = xmlDocGetRootElement(doc);
 	for (node = root->children; node ; node = node->next) {
diff --git a/patch.h b/patch.h
index 30f5df4..d14d56f 100644
--- a/patch.h
+++ b/patch.h
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ struct patch {
 	struct list_head node;
 };
 
-int patch_load(const char *patch_file);
+int patch_load(const char *patch_file, const char *incdir);
 int patch_execute(struct qdl_device *qdl, int (*apply)(struct qdl_device *qdl, struct patch *patch));
 void free_patches(void);
 
diff --git a/program.c b/program.c
index c4dcaf4..a0d6483 100644
--- a/program.c
+++ b/program.c
@@ -185,13 +185,7 @@ static int load_program_tag(xmlNode *node, bool is_nand, bool allow_missing, con
 	}
 
 	if (program->filename) {
-		if (incdir) {
-			snprintf(tmp, PATH_MAX, "%s/%s", incdir, program->filename);
-			if (access(tmp, F_OK) != -1) {
-				free((void *)program->filename);
-				program->filename = strdup(tmp);
-			}
-		}
+		resolve_path(&program->filename, incdir);
 
 		fd = open(program->filename, O_RDONLY | O_BINARY);
 		if (fd < 0) {
@@ -234,12 +228,17 @@ int program_load(const char *program_file, bool is_nand, bool allow_missing, con
 	xmlNode *root;
 	xmlDoc *doc;
 	int errors = 0;
+	char *program_file_resolved = strdup(program_file);
+
+	resolve_path(&program_file_resolved, incdir);
 
-	doc = xmlReadFile(program_file, NULL, 0);
+	doc = xmlReadFile(program_file_resolved, NULL, 0);
 	if (!doc) {
 		ux_err("failed to parse program-type file \"%s\"\n", program_file);
+		free(program_file_resolved);
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
+	free(program_file_resolved);
 
 	root = xmlDocGetRootElement(doc);
 	for (node = root->children; node ; node = node->next) {
diff --git a/program.h b/program.h
index 5583d0d..65ad31e 100644
--- a/program.h
+++ b/program.h
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ struct program {
 	unsigned int pages_per_block;
 	unsigned int sector_size;
 	unsigned int file_offset;
-	const char *filename;
+	char *filename;
 	const char *label;
 	unsigned int num_sectors;
 	int partition;
diff --git a/qdl.c b/qdl.c
index 94301b9..2d1154a 100644
--- a/qdl.c
+++ b/qdl.c
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ enum {
 
 bool qdl_debug;
 
-static int detect_type(const char *verb)
+static int detect_type(const char *verb, const char *incdir)
 {
 	xmlNode *root;
 	xmlDoc *doc;
@@ -57,16 +57,22 @@ static int detect_type(const char *verb)
 	if (!strcmp(verb, "erase"))
 		return QDL_CMD_ERASE;
 
-	if (access(verb, F_OK)) {
+	char *filename = strdup(verb);
+	resolve_path(&filename, incdir);
+
+	if (access(filename, F_OK)) {
 		ux_err("%s is not a verb and not a XML file\n", verb);
+		free(filename);
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
-	doc = xmlReadFile(verb, NULL, 0);
+	doc = xmlReadFile(filename, NULL, 0);
 	if (!doc) {
 		ux_err("failed to parse XML file \"%s\"\n", verb);
+		free(filename);
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
+	free(filename);
 
 	root = xmlDocGetRootElement(doc);
 	if (!xmlStrcmp(root->name, (xmlChar *)"patches")) {
@@ -251,6 +257,7 @@ static int decode_programmer_archive(struct sahara_image *blob, struct sahara_im
  * decode_sahara_config() - Attempt to decode a Sahara config XML document
  * @blob: Loaded image to be decoded as Sahara config
  * @images: List of Sahara images, with @images[0] populated
+ * @incdir: include directory to be searched for the files specified in the Sahara config
  *
  * The single blob provided in @images[0] might be a XML blob containing
  * a sahara_config document with definitions of the various Sahara images that
@@ -261,7 +268,7 @@ static int decode_programmer_archive(struct sahara_image *blob, struct sahara_im
  *
  * Returns: 0 if no archive was found, 1 if archive was decoded, -1 on error
  */
-static int decode_sahara_config(struct sahara_image *blob, struct sahara_image *images)
+static int decode_sahara_config(struct sahara_image *blob, struct sahara_image *images, const char *incdir)
 {
 	char image_path_full[PATH_MAX];
 	const char *image_path;
@@ -342,7 +349,7 @@ static int decode_sahara_config(struct sahara_image *blob, struct sahara_image *
 
 		free((void *)image_path);
 
-		ret = load_sahara_image(image_path_full, &images[image_id]);
+		ret = load_sahara_image(image_path_full, &images[image_id], incdir);
 		if (ret < 0)
 			goto err_free_doc;
 	}
@@ -370,6 +377,7 @@ static int decode_sahara_config(struct sahara_image *blob, struct sahara_image *
  * decode_programmer() - decodes the programmer specifier
  * @s: programmer specifier, from the user
  * @images: array of images to populate
+ * @incdir: include directory to be searched for the files specified in @s
  *
  * This parses the programmer specifier @s, which can either be a single
  * filename, or a comma-separated series of <id>:<filename> entries.
@@ -386,7 +394,7 @@ static int decode_sahara_config(struct sahara_image *blob, struct sahara_image *
  *
  * Returns: 0 on success, -1 otherwise.
  */
-static int decode_programmer(char *s, struct sahara_image *images)
+static int decode_programmer(char *s, struct sahara_image *images, const char *incdir)
 {
 	struct sahara_image archive;
 	char *filename;
@@ -411,12 +419,12 @@ static int decode_programmer(char *s, struct sahara_image *images)
 			}
 
 			filename = &tail[1];
-			ret = load_sahara_image(filename, &images[id]);
+			ret = load_sahara_image(filename, &images[id], incdir);
 			if (ret < 0)
 				return -1;
 		}
 	} else {
-		ret = load_sahara_image(s, &archive);
+		ret = load_sahara_image(s, &archive, incdir);
 		if (ret < 0)
 			return -1;
 
@@ -424,7 +432,7 @@ static int decode_programmer(char *s, struct sahara_image *images)
 		if (ret < 0 || ret == 1)
 			return ret;
 
-		ret = decode_sahara_config(&archive, images);
+		ret = decode_sahara_config(&archive, images, incdir);
 		if (ret < 0 || ret == 1)
 			return ret;
 
@@ -695,18 +703,18 @@ static int qdl_flash(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (qdl_debug)
 		print_version();
 
-	ret = decode_programmer(argv[optind++], sahara_images);
+	ret = decode_programmer(argv[optind++], sahara_images, incdir);
 	if (ret < 0)
 		goto out_cleanup;
 
 	do {
-		type = detect_type(argv[optind]);
+		type = detect_type(argv[optind], incdir);
 		if (type < 0 || type == QDL_FILE_UNKNOWN)
 			errx(1, "failed to detect file type of %s\n", argv[optind]);
 
 		switch (type) {
 		case QDL_FILE_PATCH:
-			ret = patch_load(argv[optind]);
+			ret = patch_load(argv[optind], incdir);
 			if (ret < 0)
 				errx(1, "patch_load %s failed", argv[optind]);
 			break;
@@ -728,7 +736,7 @@ static int qdl_flash(int argc, char **argv)
 			if (storage_type != QDL_STORAGE_UFS)
 				errx(1, "attempting to load provisioning config when storage isn't \"ufs\"");
 
-			ret = ufs_load(argv[optind], qdl_finalize_provisioning);
+			ret = ufs_load(argv[optind], qdl_finalize_provisioning, incdir);
 			if (ret < 0)
 				errx(1, "ufs_load %s failed", argv[optind]);
 			break;
diff --git a/qdl.h b/qdl.h
index 6b51538..c1f4e3b 100644
--- a/qdl.h
+++ b/qdl.h
@@ -112,12 +112,13 @@ int firehose_read_buf(struct qdl_device *qdl, struct read_op *read_op, void *out
 int sahara_run(struct qdl_device *qdl, const struct sahara_image *images,
 	       const char *ramdump_path,
 	       const char *ramdump_filter);
-int load_sahara_image(const char *filename, struct sahara_image *image);
+int load_sahara_image(const char *filename, struct sahara_image *image, const char *incdir);
 void sahara_images_free(struct sahara_image *images, size_t count);
 void print_hex_dump(const char *prefix, const void *buf, size_t len);
 unsigned int attr_as_unsigned(xmlNode *node, const char *attr, int *errors);
 const char *attr_as_string(xmlNode *node, const char *attr, int *errors);
 bool attr_as_bool(xmlNode *node, const char *attr, int *errors);
+void resolve_path(char **filename, const char *incdir);
 
 void ux_init(void);
 void ux_err(const char *fmt, ...);
diff --git a/read.c b/read.c
index 697102e..22333e1 100644
--- a/read.c
+++ b/read.c
@@ -27,12 +27,17 @@ int read_op_load(const char *read_op_file, const char *incdir)
 	xmlDoc *doc;
 	int errors;
 	char tmp[PATH_MAX];
+	char *read_op_file_resolved = strdup(read_op_file);
 
-	doc = xmlReadFile(read_op_file, NULL, 0);
+	resolve_path(&read_op_file_resolved, incdir);
+
+	doc = xmlReadFile(read_op_file_resolved, NULL, 0);
 	if (!doc) {
 		ux_err("failed to parse read-type file \"%s\"\n", read_op_file);
+		free(read_op_file_resolved);
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
+	free(read_op_file_resolved);
 
 	root = xmlDocGetRootElement(doc);
 	for (node = root->children; node ; node = node->next) {
diff --git a/ufs.c b/ufs.c
index b7cada4..67a9e17 100644
--- a/ufs.c
+++ b/ufs.c
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ struct ufs_epilogue *ufs_parse_epilogue(xmlNode *node)
 	return result;
 }
 
-int ufs_load(const char *ufs_file, bool finalize_provisioning)
+int ufs_load(const char *ufs_file, bool finalize_provisioning, const char *incdir)
 {
 	xmlNode *node;
 	xmlNode *root;
@@ -130,12 +130,17 @@ int ufs_load(const char *ufs_file, bool finalize_provisioning)
 		       ufs_file);
 		return -EEXIST;
 	}
+	char *ufs_file_resolved = strdup(ufs_file);
+
+	resolve_path(&ufs_file_resolved, incdir);
 
 	doc = xmlReadFile(ufs_file, NULL, 0);
 	if (!doc) {
 		ux_err("failed to parse ufs-type file \"%s\"\n", ufs_file);
+		free(ufs_file_resolved);
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
+	free(ufs_file_resolved);
 
 	root = xmlDocGetRootElement(doc);
 
diff --git a/ufs.h b/ufs.h
index 5c17449..ad1b3b6 100644
--- a/ufs.h
+++ b/ufs.h
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ struct ufs_epilogue {
 	bool		commit;
 };
 
-int ufs_load(const char *ufs_file, bool finalize_provisioning);
+int ufs_load(const char *ufs_file, bool finalize_provisioning, const char *incdir);
 int ufs_provisioning_execute(struct qdl_device *qdl,
 			     int (*apply_ufs_common)(struct qdl_device *qdl, struct ufs_common *ufs),
 			     int (*apply_ufs_body)(struct qdl_device *qdl, struct ufs_body *ufs),
diff --git a/util.c b/util.c
index c819401..8a8dc83 100644
--- a/util.c
+++ b/util.c
@@ -211,26 +211,49 @@ int parse_storage_address(const char *address, int *physical_partition,
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/**
+ * @brief Resolves a given filename and determines if it's found in the include dir
+ *
+ * @filename: file to be found
+ * @incdir: include directory to be searched for the file
+ */
+void resolve_path(char **filename, const char *incdir)
+{
+	char tmp[PATH_MAX];
+	if (incdir) {
+		snprintf(tmp, PATH_MAX, "%s/%s", incdir, *filename);
+		if (access(tmp, F_OK) != -1) {
+			free((void *)*filename);
+			*filename = strdup(tmp);
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 /**
  * load_sahara_image() - Load the content of the given file into the image
  * @filename: file to be loaded
  * @image: Sahara image object to be populated
+ * @incdir: include directory to be searched for the file
  *
  * Read the content of the given @filename into the given @image, update the
  * @image->len, and then populate the @image->name for debugging purposes.
  *
  * Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error
  */
-int load_sahara_image(const char *filename, struct sahara_image *image)
+int load_sahara_image(const char *filename, struct sahara_image *image, const char *incdir)
 {
 	ssize_t n;
 	off_t len;
 	void *ptr;
 	int fd;
+	char *filename_resolved = strdup(filename);
+
+	resolve_path(&filename_resolved, incdir);
 
-	fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY | O_BINARY);
+	fd = open(filename_resolved, O_RDONLY | O_BINARY);
 	if (fd < 0) {
 		ux_err("failed to read \"%s\"\n", filename);
+		free(filename_resolved);
 		return -1;
 	}
 
@@ -254,6 +277,7 @@ int load_sahara_image(const char *filename, struct sahara_image *image)
 		goto err_close;
 	}
 
+	free(filename_resolved);
 	close(fd);
 
 	image->name = strdup(filename);
@@ -263,6 +287,7 @@ int load_sahara_image(const char *filename, struct sahara_image *image)
 	return 0;
 
 err_close:
+	free(filename_resolved);
 	close(fd);
 	return -1;
 }