diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e9816f97..50e5a8b6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Fixed
 - removed unmaintained dependency `spin` ([#172](https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui/issues/172))
+- fix opening relative paths in external editor ([#184](https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui/issues/184))
 
 ## [0.8.1] - 2020-07-07
 
diff --git a/asyncgit/src/sync/utils.rs b/asyncgit/src/sync/utils.rs
index 6292a2a8..0b847a65 100644
--- a/asyncgit/src/sync/utils.rs
+++ b/asyncgit/src/sync/utils.rs
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ pub fn is_bare_repo(repo_path: &str) -> Result<bool> {
 }
 
 ///
-pub fn repo(repo_path: &str) -> Result<Repository> {
+pub(crate) fn repo(repo_path: &str) -> Result<Repository> {
     let repo = Repository::open_ext(
         repo_path,
         RepositoryOpenFlags::empty(),
@@ -43,10 +43,20 @@ pub fn repo(repo_path: &str) -> Result<Repository> {
 }
 
 ///
-pub fn work_dir(repo: &Repository) -> &Path {
+pub(crate) fn work_dir(repo: &Repository) -> &Path {
     repo.workdir().expect("unable to query workdir")
 }
 
+///
+pub fn repo_work_dir(repo_path: &str) -> Result<String> {
+    let repo = repo(repo_path)?;
+    if let Some(workdir) = work_dir(&repo).to_str() {
+        Ok(workdir.to_string())
+    } else {
+        Err(Error::Generic("invalid workdir".to_string()))
+    }
+}
+
 ///
 pub fn get_head(repo_path: &str) -> Result<CommitId> {
     let repo = repo(repo_path)?;
diff --git a/src/components/externaleditor.rs b/src/components/externaleditor.rs
index f580acd4..f0027035 100644
--- a/src/components/externaleditor.rs
+++ b/src/components/externaleditor.rs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ use crate::{
     ui::{self, style::SharedTheme},
 };
 use anyhow::{anyhow, Result};
+use asyncgit::{sync::utils::repo_work_dir, CWD};
 use crossterm::{
     event::Event,
     terminal::{EnterAlternateScreen, LeaveAlternateScreen},
@@ -38,6 +39,14 @@ impl ExternalEditorComponent {
 
     /// opens file at given `path` in an available editor
     pub fn open_file_in_editor(path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
+        let work_dir = repo_work_dir(CWD)?;
+
+        let path = if path.is_relative() {
+            Path::new(&work_dir).join(path)
+        } else {
+            path.into()
+        };
+
         if !path.exists() {
             return Err(anyhow!("file not found: {:?}", path));
         }
@@ -52,6 +61,11 @@ impl ExternalEditorComponent {
             .or_else(|| env::var("VISUAL").ok())
             .or_else(|| env::var("EDITOR").ok())
             .unwrap_or_else(|| String::from("vi"));
+
+        //TODO: check the path.to_str result and return err on None because
+        //otherwise this will pretty likely fail in the command stage otherwise
+        //and https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui/issues/184 showed how weird
+        //'vi' handles opening not existing files
         editor.push_str(&format!(" {}", path.to_string_lossy()));
 
         let mut editor = editor.split_whitespace();
@@ -61,6 +75,7 @@ impl ExternalEditorComponent {
         })?;
 
         Command::new(command)
+            .current_dir(work_dir)
             .args(editor)
             .status()
             .map_err(|e| anyhow!("\"{}\": {}", command, e))?;