diff --git a/docs/resources.md b/docs/resources.md
index 91adae26..ff48590b 100644
--- a/docs/resources.md
+++ b/docs/resources.md
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ identified by a trailing slash in their path name. File have no such slash.
 
 It has the following properties:
 
-* `path`: file path (directories have a trailing slash here)
+* `path`: absolute file path (directories have a trailing slash here)
 * `content`: raw file content
 * `state`: either `exists` (the default value) or `absent`
 * `mode`: octal unix file permissions
diff --git a/engine/resources/file.go b/engine/resources/file.go
index 723e3c50..11dd3d87 100644
--- a/engine/resources/file.go
+++ b/engine/resources/file.go
@@ -54,7 +54,10 @@ type FileRes struct {
 
 	init *engine.Init
 
-	Path     string  `yaml:"path"`     // path variable (usually defaults to name)
+	// Path variable, which usually defaults to the name, represents the
+	// destination path for the file or directory being managed. It must be
+	// an absolute path, and as a result must start with a slash.
+	Path     string  `yaml:"path"`
 	Dirname  string  `yaml:"dirname"`  // override the path dirname
 	Basename string  `yaml:"basename"` // override the path basename
 	Content  *string `yaml:"content"`  // nil to mark as undefined
@@ -93,6 +96,10 @@ func (obj *FileRes) Validate() error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("basename must not start with a slash")
 	}
 
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(obj.GetPath(), "/") {
+		return fmt.Errorf("resultant path must be absolute")
+	}
+
 	if obj.Content != nil && obj.Source != "" {
 		return fmt.Errorf("can't specify both Content and Source")
 	}
diff --git a/engine/resources/file_test.go b/engine/resources/file_test.go
index c47f7aad..3b93a482 100644
--- a/engine/resources/file_test.go
+++ b/engine/resources/file_test.go
@@ -146,3 +146,19 @@ func TestMiscEncodeDecode2(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("The input and output Res values do not match: %+v", err)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestFileAbsolute1(t *testing.T) {
+	// file resource paths should be absolute
+	f1 := &FileRes{
+		Path: "tmp/a/b", // some relative file
+	}
+	f2 := &FileRes{
+		Path: "tmp/a/b/", // some relative dir
+	}
+	f3 := &FileRes{
+		Path: "tmp", // some short relative file
+	}
+	if f1.Validate() == nil || f2.Validate() == nil || f3.Validate() == nil {
+		t.Errorf("file res should have failed validate")
+	}
+}