diff --git a/PluginExamples/Package.swift b/PluginExamples/Package.swift
index 31d062239..92a6fa13b 100644
--- a/PluginExamples/Package.swift
+++ b/PluginExamples/Package.swift
@@ -47,6 +47,15 @@ let package = Package(
                 .plugin(name: "SwiftProtobufPlugin", package: "swift-protobuf")
             ]
         ),
+        .target(
+            name: "CustomProtoPath",
+            dependencies: [
+                .product(name: "SwiftProtobuf", package: "swift-protobuf")
+            ],
+            plugins: [
+                .plugin(name: "SwiftProtobufPlugin", package: "swift-protobuf")
+            ]
+        ),
         .testTarget(
             name: "ExampleTests",
             dependencies: [
@@ -54,6 +63,7 @@ let package = Package(
                 .target(name: "Nested"),
                 .target(name: "Import"),
                 .target(name: "AccessLevelOnImport"),
+                .target(name: "CustomProtoPath"),
             ]
         ),
     ],
diff --git a/PluginExamples/Sources/CustomProtoPath/empty.swift b/PluginExamples/Sources/CustomProtoPath/empty.swift
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d4445d2a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/PluginExamples/Sources/CustomProtoPath/empty.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+/// DO NOT DELETE.
+///
+/// We need to keep this file otherwise the plugin is not running.
diff --git a/PluginExamples/Sources/CustomProtoPath/protos/Bar/Bar.proto b/PluginExamples/Sources/CustomProtoPath/protos/Bar/Bar.proto
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8e672a88c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/PluginExamples/Sources/CustomProtoPath/protos/Bar/Bar.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+syntax = "proto3";
+
+message Bar {
+  string name = 1;
+}
diff --git a/PluginExamples/Sources/CustomProtoPath/protos/Foo/Foo.proto b/PluginExamples/Sources/CustomProtoPath/protos/Foo/Foo.proto
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c7dbff913
--- /dev/null
+++ b/PluginExamples/Sources/CustomProtoPath/protos/Foo/Foo.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+syntax = "proto3";
+
+import "Bar/Bar.proto";
+
+message Foo {
+  Bar bar = 1;
+}
diff --git a/PluginExamples/Sources/CustomProtoPath/protos/Main.proto b/PluginExamples/Sources/CustomProtoPath/protos/Main.proto
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..18b17a89a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/PluginExamples/Sources/CustomProtoPath/protos/Main.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+syntax = "proto3";
+
+import "Bar/Bar.proto";
+import "Foo/Foo.proto";
+
+message Main {
+  Bar bar = 1;
+  Foo foo = 2;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/PluginExamples/Sources/CustomProtoPath/swift-protobuf-config.json b/PluginExamples/Sources/CustomProtoPath/swift-protobuf-config.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..24722c38d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/PluginExamples/Sources/CustomProtoPath/swift-protobuf-config.json
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+{
+    "invocations": [
+        {
+            "protoFiles": [
+                "Bar/Bar.proto",
+                "Foo/Foo.proto",
+                "Main.proto"
+            ],
+            "visibility": "public",
+            "protoPath": "protos"
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/PluginExamples/Sources/ExampleTests/ExampleTests.swift b/PluginExamples/Sources/ExampleTests/ExampleTests.swift
index 1bd2d5354..5d05e05af 100644
--- a/PluginExamples/Sources/ExampleTests/ExampleTests.swift
+++ b/PluginExamples/Sources/ExampleTests/ExampleTests.swift
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import CustomProtoPath
 import Import
 import Nested
 import Simple
@@ -18,4 +19,13 @@ final class ExampleTests: XCTestCase {
         let foo = Foo.with { $0.bar = .with { $0.name = "Bar" } }
         XCTAssertEqual(foo.bar.name, "Bar")
     }
+
+    func testCustomProtoPath() {
+        let main = CustomProtoPath.Main.with {
+            $0.bar = .with { $0.name = "Bar" }
+            $0.foo = .with { $0.bar = .with { $0.name = "BarInFoo" } }
+        }
+        XCTAssertEqual(main.bar.name, "Bar")
+        XCTAssertEqual(main.foo.bar.name, "BarInFoo")
+    }
 }
diff --git a/Plugins/SwiftProtobufPlugin/plugin.swift b/Plugins/SwiftProtobufPlugin/plugin.swift
index 74af4b966..4249c45e0 100644
--- a/Plugins/SwiftProtobufPlugin/plugin.swift
+++ b/Plugins/SwiftProtobufPlugin/plugin.swift
@@ -86,6 +86,8 @@ struct SwiftProtobufPlugin {
             var implementationOnlyImports: Bool?
             /// Whether import statements should be preceded with visibility.
             var useAccessLevelOnImports: Bool?
+            /// Overrides the path to look for protobuf files
+            var protoPath: String?
         }
 
         /// The path to the `protoc` binary.
@@ -171,10 +173,15 @@ struct SwiftProtobufPlugin {
             "--swift_out=\(outputDirectory)",
         ]
 
-        // We need to add the target directory as a search path since we require the user to specify
-        // the proto files relative to it.
+        let protoDirectory =
+            if let protoPath = invocation.protoPath {
+                directory.appending(protoPath)
+            } else {
+                directory
+            }
+
         protocArgs.append("-I")
-        protocArgs.append("\(directory)")
+        protocArgs.append("\(protoDirectory)")
 
         // Add the visibility if it was set
         if let visibility = invocation.visibility {
@@ -202,7 +209,7 @@ struct SwiftProtobufPlugin {
         for var file in invocation.protoFiles {
             // Append the file to the protoc args so that it is used for generating
             protocArgs.append("\(file)")
-            inputFiles.append(directory.appending(file))
+            inputFiles.append(protoDirectory.appending(file))
 
             // The name of the output file is based on the name of the input file.
             // We validated in the beginning that every file has the suffix of .proto