diff --git a/build.rs b/build.rs
index 23e300d1c..ea64c1486 100644
--- a/build.rs
+++ b/build.rs
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ fn main() {
     println!("cargo:rustc-check-cfg=cfg(shrink_to)");
     println!("cargo:rustc-check-cfg=cfg(try_reserve_2)");
     println!("cargo:rustc-check-cfg=cfg(os_str_bytes)");
+    println!("cargo:rustc-check-cfg=cfg(absolute_path)");
 
     let compiler = match rustc_version() {
         Some(compiler) => compiler,
@@ -50,11 +51,16 @@ fn main() {
     {
         println!("cargo:rustc-cfg=path_buf_deref_mut");
     }
-    // os_str_bytes was added in a 1.74 stable.
+    // os_str_bytes was added in 1.74.
     if (compiler.minor >= 74 && compiler.channel == ReleaseChannel::Stable) || compiler.minor >= 75
     {
         println!("cargo:rustc-cfg=os_str_bytes");
     }
+    // absolute_path was added in 1.79.
+    if (compiler.minor >= 79 && compiler.channel == ReleaseChannel::Stable) || compiler.minor >= 80
+    {
+        println!("cargo:rustc-cfg=absolute_path");
+    }
 
     // Catch situations where the actual features aren't enabled. Currently, they're only shown with
     // `-vv` output, but maybe that will be noticed.
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 7d510bdf7..2b71e18f0 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -3064,6 +3064,91 @@ impl_cmp_os_str!(&'a Utf8Path, Cow<'b, OsStr>);
 impl_cmp_os_str!(&'a Utf8Path, OsString);
 // NOTE: impls for Cow<'a, Utf8Path> cannot be defined because of the orphan rule (E0117)
 
+/// Makes the path absolute without accessing the filesystem, converting it to a [`Utf8PathBuf`].
+///
+/// If the path is relative, the current directory is used as the base directory. All intermediate
+/// components will be resolved according to platform-specific rules, but unlike
+/// [`canonicalize`][Utf8Path::canonicalize] or [`canonicalize_utf8`](Utf8Path::canonicalize_utf8),
+/// this does not resolve symlinks and may succeed even if the path does not exist.
+///
+/// *Requires Rust 1.79 or newer.*
+///
+/// # Errors
+///
+/// Errors if:
+///
+/// * The path is empty.
+/// * The [current directory][std::env::current_dir] cannot be determined.
+/// * The path is not valid UTF-8.
+///
+/// # Examples
+///
+/// ## POSIX paths
+///
+/// ```
+/// # #[cfg(unix)]
+/// fn main() -> std::io::Result<()> {
+///     use camino::Utf8Path;
+///
+///     // Relative to absolute
+///     let absolute = camino::absolute_utf8("foo/./bar")?;
+///     assert!(absolute.ends_with("foo/bar"));
+///
+///     // Absolute to absolute
+///     let absolute = camino::absolute_utf8("/foo//test/.././bar.rs")?;
+///     assert_eq!(absolute, Utf8Path::new("/foo/test/../bar.rs"));
+///     Ok(())
+/// }
+/// # #[cfg(not(unix))]
+/// # fn main() {}
+/// ```
+///
+/// The path is resolved using [POSIX semantics][posix-semantics] except that it stops short of
+/// resolving symlinks. This means it will keep `..` components and trailing slashes.
+///
+/// ## Windows paths
+///
+/// ```
+/// # #[cfg(windows)]
+/// fn main() -> std::io::Result<()> {
+///     use camino::Utf8Path;
+///
+///     // Relative to absolute
+///     let absolute = camino::absolute_utf8("foo/./bar")?;
+///     assert!(absolute.ends_with(r"foo\bar"));
+///
+///     // Absolute to absolute
+///     let absolute = camino::absolute_utf8(r"C:\foo//test\..\./bar.rs")?;
+///
+///     assert_eq!(absolute, Utf8Path::new(r"C:\foo\bar.rs"));
+///     Ok(())
+/// }
+/// # #[cfg(not(windows))]
+/// # fn main() {}
+/// ```
+///
+/// For verbatim paths this will simply return the path as given. For other paths this is currently
+/// equivalent to calling [`GetFullPathNameW`][windows-path].
+///
+/// Note that this [may change in the future][changes].
+///
+/// [changes]: io#platform-specific-behavior
+/// [posix-semantics]:
+///     https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/basedefs/V1_chap04.html#tag_04_13
+/// [windows-path]:
+///     https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/fileapi/nf-fileapi-getfullpathnamew
+#[cfg(absolute_path)]
+pub fn absolute_utf8<P: AsRef<Path>>(path: P) -> io::Result<Utf8PathBuf> {
+    // Note that even if the passed in path is valid UTF-8, it is not guaranteed that the absolute
+    // path will be valid UTF-8. For example, the current directory may not be valid UTF-8.
+    //
+    // That's why we take `AsRef<Path>` instead of `AsRef<Utf8Path>` here -- we have to pay the cost
+    // of checking for valid UTF-8 anyway.
+    let path = path.as_ref();
+    #[allow(clippy::incompatible_msrv)]
+    Utf8PathBuf::try_from(std::path::absolute(path)?).map_err(|error| error.into_io_error())
+}
+
 // invariant: OsStr must be guaranteed to be utf8 data
 #[inline]
 unsafe fn str_assume_utf8(string: &OsStr) -> &str {