diff --git a/fdbclient/BackupContainerLocalDirectory.actor.cpp b/fdbclient/BackupContainerLocalDirectory.actor.cpp
index 4e4d82edbb..8d2b50928b 100644
--- a/fdbclient/BackupContainerLocalDirectory.actor.cpp
+++ b/fdbclient/BackupContainerLocalDirectory.actor.cpp
@@ -158,15 +158,19 @@ BackupContainerLocalDirectory::BackupContainerLocalDirectory(const std::string&
 	std::string absolutePath = abspath(path);
 
 	if (!g_network->isSimulated() && path != absolutePath) {
-		TraceEvent(SevWarn, "BackupContainerLocalDirectory")
-		    .detail("Description", "Backup path must be absolute (e.g. file:///some/path)")
-		    .detail("URL", url)
-		    .detail("Path", path)
-		    .detail("AbsolutePath", absolutePath);
-		// throw io_error();
-		IBackupContainer::lastOpenError =
-		    format("Backup path '%s' must be the absolute path '%s'", path.c_str(), absolutePath.c_str());
-		throw backup_invalid_url();
+		if (CLIENT_KNOBS->BACKUP_CONTAINER_LOCAL_ALLOW_RELATIVE_PATH) {
+			path = absolutePath;
+		} else {
+			TraceEvent(SevWarn, "BackupContainerLocalDirectory")
+			    .detail("Description", "Backup path must be absolute (e.g. file:///some/path)")
+			    .detail("URL", url)
+			    .detail("Path", path)
+			    .detail("AbsolutePath", absolutePath);
+			// throw io_error();
+			IBackupContainer::lastOpenError =
+			    format("Backup path '%s' must be the absolute path '%s'", path.c_str(), absolutePath.c_str());
+			throw backup_invalid_url();
+		}
 	}
 
 	// Finalized path written to will be will be <path>/backup-<uid>
@@ -185,12 +189,19 @@ Future<std::vector<std::string>> BackupContainerLocalDirectory::listURLs(const s
 	// Remove trailing slashes on path
 	path.erase(path.find_last_not_of("\\/") + 1);
 
-	if (!g_network->isSimulated() && path != abspath(path)) {
-		TraceEvent(SevWarn, "BackupContainerLocalDirectory")
-		    .detail("Description", "Backup path must be absolute (e.g. file:///some/path)")
-		    .detail("URL", url)
-		    .detail("Path", path);
-		throw io_error();
+	std::string absolutePath = abspath(path);
+
+	if (!g_network->isSimulated() && path != absolutePath) {
+		if (CLIENT_KNOBS->BACKUP_CONTAINER_LOCAL_ALLOW_RELATIVE_PATH) {
+			path = absolutePath;
+		} else {
+			TraceEvent(SevWarn, "BackupContainerLocalDirectory")
+			    .detail("Description", "Backup path must be absolute (e.g. file:///some/path)")
+			    .detail("URL", url)
+			    .detail("Path", path)
+			    .detail("AbsolutePath", absolutePath);
+			throw io_error();
+		}
 	}
 	std::vector<std::string> dirs = platform::listDirectories(path);
 	std::vector<std::string> results;
diff --git a/fdbclient/ClientKnobs.cpp b/fdbclient/ClientKnobs.cpp
index 2bdf24e353..faa2209fa9 100644
--- a/fdbclient/ClientKnobs.cpp
+++ b/fdbclient/ClientKnobs.cpp
@@ -192,7 +192,8 @@ void ClientKnobs::initialize(Randomize randomize) {
 	init( MIN_CLEANUP_SECONDS,                  3600.0 );
 	init( FASTRESTORE_ATOMICOP_WEIGHT,               1 ); if( randomize && BUGGIFY ) { FASTRESTORE_ATOMICOP_WEIGHT = deterministicRandom()->random01() * 200 + 1; }
 	init( RESTORE_RANGES_READ_BATCH,             10000 );
-	init( BLOB_GRANULE_RESTORE_CHECK_INTERVAL,              10 );
+	init( BLOB_GRANULE_RESTORE_CHECK_INTERVAL,      10 );
+	init( BACKUP_CONTAINER_LOCAL_ALLOW_RELATIVE_PATH, false );
 
 	// Configuration
 	init( DEFAULT_AUTO_COMMIT_PROXIES,               3 );
diff --git a/fdbclient/include/fdbclient/ClientKnobs.h b/fdbclient/include/fdbclient/ClientKnobs.h
index f4bd86d27c..679d9374d7 100644
--- a/fdbclient/include/fdbclient/ClientKnobs.h
+++ b/fdbclient/include/fdbclient/ClientKnobs.h
@@ -193,6 +193,7 @@ public:
 	int64_t FASTRESTORE_ATOMICOP_WEIGHT; // workload amplication factor for atomic op
 	int RESTORE_RANGES_READ_BATCH;
 	int BLOB_GRANULE_RESTORE_CHECK_INTERVAL;
+	bool BACKUP_CONTAINER_LOCAL_ALLOW_RELATIVE_PATH;
 
 	// Configuration
 	int32_t DEFAULT_AUTO_COMMIT_PROXIES;