diff --git a/src/cli-validator/runValidator.js b/src/cli-validator/runValidator.js
index 5e51cec1e..d33a9a512 100644
--- a/src/cli-validator/runValidator.js
+++ b/src/cli-validator/runValidator.js
@@ -197,6 +197,11 @@ const processInput = async function(program) {
       continue;
     }
 
+    // change working directory to location of root api definition
+    // this will allow the parser in `buildSwaggerObject` to resolve external refs correctly
+    const originalWorkingDirectory = process.cwd();
+    process.chdir(path.dirname(validFile));
+
     // validator requires the swagger object to follow a specific format
     let swagger;
     try {
@@ -207,6 +212,11 @@ const processInput = async function(program) {
       // console.log(err.stack);
       exitCode = 1;
       continue;
+    } finally {
+      // return the working directory to its original location so that
+      // the rest of the program runs as expected. using finally block
+      // because this must happen regardless of result in buildSwaggerObject
+      process.chdir(originalWorkingDirectory);
     }
 
     // run validator, print the results, and determine if validator passed
diff --git a/test/cli-validator/mockFiles/multi-file-spec/main.yaml b/test/cli-validator/mockFiles/multi-file-spec/main.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fa4cea29a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/cli-validator/mockFiles/multi-file-spec/main.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+openapi: 3.0.0
+paths:
+  /example:
+    get:
+      summary: Summary
+      responses:
+        "200":
+          description: OK
+          content:
+            application/json:
+              schema:
+                $ref: "./schema.yaml#/components/schemas/SchemaDef"
diff --git a/test/cli-validator/mockFiles/multi-file-spec/schema.yaml b/test/cli-validator/mockFiles/multi-file-spec/schema.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4a4f824c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/cli-validator/mockFiles/multi-file-spec/schema.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+openapi: 3.0.0
+paths: {}
+components:
+  schemas:
+    SchemaDef:
+      type: object
diff --git a/test/cli-validator/tests/expectedOutput.js b/test/cli-validator/tests/expectedOutput.js
index 79448664e..9ce292f9e 100644
--- a/test/cli-validator/tests/expectedOutput.js
+++ b/test/cli-validator/tests/expectedOutput.js
@@ -226,10 +226,35 @@ describe('test expected output - OpenAPI 3', function() {
     const allOutput = capturedText.join('');
 
     expect(exitCode).toEqual(0);
-    expect(
-      allOutput.includes(
-        './test/cli-validator/mockFiles/oas3/clean.yml passed the validator'
-      )
-    ).toEqual(true);
+    expect(allOutput).toContain(
+      './test/cli-validator/mockFiles/oas3/clean.yml passed the validator'
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('should catch problems in a multi-file spec from an outside directory', async function() {
+    const capturedText = [];
+
+    const unhookIntercept = intercept(function(txt) {
+      capturedText.push(stripAnsiFrom(txt));
+      return '';
+    });
+
+    const program = {};
+    program.args = ['./test/cli-validator/mockFiles/multi-file-spec/main.yaml'];
+    program.default_mode = true;
+
+    const exitCode = await commandLineValidator(program);
+
+    unhookIntercept();
+
+    const allOutput = capturedText.join('');
+
+    expect(exitCode).toEqual(1);
+    expect(allOutput).toContain('errors');
+    expect(allOutput).toContain('API definition must have an `info` object');
+    expect(allOutput).toContain('warnings');
+    expect(allOutput).toContain(
+      'Operations must have a non-empty `operationId`.'
+    );
   });
 });