diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 03a3b376..86b68f2e 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 xbps-0.44 (???):
 
+ * xbps-{install,query}: the --repository argument now works with relative
+   paths for local repositories. The relative path is always converted to
+   absolute.
+
  * libxbps: the provides obj (array of strings) now fully expects exact
    pkgver strings, such as `foo-1.0_1`. Incomplete components such as
    `pkgname` or `pkgname-9` are not accepted anymore.
diff --git a/bin/xbps-install/main.c b/bin/xbps-install/main.c
index ce370d55..7704f09f 100644
--- a/bin/xbps-install/main.c
+++ b/bin/xbps-install/main.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*-
- * Copyright (c) 2008-2014 Juan Romero Pardines.
+ * Copyright (c) 2008-2015 Juan Romero Pardines.
  * All rights reserved.
  *
  * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
@@ -159,10 +159,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 			drun = true;
 			break;
 		case 'R':
-			if (xh.repositories == NULL)
-				xh.repositories = xbps_array_create();
-
-			xbps_array_add_cstring_nocopy(xh.repositories, optarg);
+			xbps_repo_store(&xh, optarg);
 			break;
 		case 'r':
 			rootdir = optarg;
diff --git a/bin/xbps-query/main.c b/bin/xbps-query/main.c
index a12d5c43..e976504c 100644
--- a/bin/xbps-query/main.c
+++ b/bin/xbps-query/main.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*-
- * Copyright (c) 2008-2014 Juan Romero Pardines.
+ * Copyright (c) 2008-2015 Juan Romero Pardines.
  * All rights reserved.
  *
  * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
@@ -170,10 +170,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 			break;
 		case 'R':
 			if (optarg != NULL) {
-				if (xh.repositories == NULL)
-					xh.repositories = xbps_array_create();
-
-				xbps_array_add_cstring_nocopy(xh.repositories, optarg);
+				xbps_repo_store(&xh, optarg);
 			}
 			repo_mode = true;
 			break;
diff --git a/include/xbps.h.in b/include/xbps.h.in
index be2ffe00..c2333462 100644
--- a/include/xbps.h.in
+++ b/include/xbps.h.in
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*-
- * Copyright (c) 2008-2014 Juan Romero Pardines.
+ * Copyright (c) 2008-2015 Juan Romero Pardines.
  * All rights reserved.
  *
  * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
  *
  * This header documents the full API for the XBPS Library.
  */
-#define XBPS_API_VERSION	"20141209"
+#define XBPS_API_VERSION	"20150110"
 
 #ifndef XBPS_VERSION
  #define XBPS_VERSION		"UNSET"
@@ -1389,6 +1389,16 @@ xbps_dictionary_t xbps_rpool_get_pkg_plist(struct xbps_handle *xhp,
 /** @addtogroup repo */
 /*@{*/
 
+/**
+ * Stores repository \a url into the repository pool.
+ *
+ * @param[in] xhp Pointer to the xbps_handle struct.
+ * @param[in] uri Repository URI to store.
+ *
+ * @return True on success, false otherwise.
+ */
+bool xbps_repo_store(struct xbps_handle *xhp, const char *url);
+
 /**
  * Opens a repository and returns a xbps_repo object.
  *
diff --git a/lib/initend.c b/lib/initend.c
index 99ee2462..8465a063 100644
--- a/lib/initend.c
+++ b/lib/initend.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*-
- * Copyright (c) 2011-2014 Juan Romero Pardines.
+ * Copyright (c) 2011-2015 Juan Romero Pardines.
  * Copyright (c) 2014 Enno Boland.
  * All rights reserved.
  *
@@ -137,14 +137,7 @@ store_repo(struct xbps_handle *xhp, const char *repo)
 	if (xhp->flags & XBPS_FLAG_IGNORE_CONF_REPOS)
 		return false;
 
-	if (xhp->repositories == NULL)
-		xhp->repositories = xbps_array_create();
-
-	if (xbps_match_string_in_array(xhp->repositories, repo))
-		return false;
-
-	xbps_array_add_cstring(xhp->repositories, repo);
-	return true;
+	return xbps_repo_store(xhp, repo);
 }
 
 static bool
@@ -496,9 +489,10 @@ xbps_init(struct xbps_handle *xhp)
 		}
 	}
 	/* Going back to old working directory */
-	if (chdir(cwd) == -1)
-		xbps_dbg_printf(xhp, "%s: cannot chdir to %s: %s\n", __func__, cwd, strerror(errno));
-
+	if (chdir(cwd) == -1) {
+		xbps_dbg_printf(xhp, "%s: cannot chdir to %s: %s\n",
+		    __func__, cwd, strerror(errno));
+	}
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/repo.c b/lib/repo.c
index 6c7070ca..17227f90 100644
--- a/lib/repo.c
+++ b/lib/repo.c
@@ -172,6 +172,45 @@ repo_open_remote(struct xbps_repo *repo)
 	return rv;
 }
 
+bool
+xbps_repo_store(struct xbps_handle *xhp, const char *repo)
+{
+	char *url = NULL;
+
+	assert(xhp);
+	assert(repo);
+
+        if (xhp->repositories == NULL) {
+		xhp->repositories = xbps_array_create();
+		assert(xhp->repositories);
+	}
+	/*
+	 * If it's a local repo and path is relative, make it absolute.
+	 */
+	if (!xbps_repository_is_remote(repo)) {
+		if (repo[0] != '/' && repo[0] != '\0') {
+			if ((url = realpath(repo, NULL)) == NULL)
+				xbps_dbg_printf(xhp, "[repo] %s: realpath %s\n", __func__, repo);
+		}
+	}
+	if (xbps_match_string_in_array(xhp->repositories, url ? url : repo)) {
+		xbps_dbg_printf(xhp, "[repo] `%s' already stored\n", url ? url : repo);
+		if (url)
+			free(url);
+		return false;
+	}
+	if (xbps_array_add_cstring(xhp->repositories, url ? url : repo)) {
+		xbps_dbg_printf(xhp, "[repo] `%s' stored successfully\n", url ? url : repo);
+		if (url)
+			free(url);
+		return true;
+	}
+	if (url)
+		free(url);
+
+	return false;
+}
+
 struct xbps_repo *
 xbps_repo_open(struct xbps_handle *xhp, const char *url, bool lock)
 {