diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index d2a478b45..f18460238 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 *.js text eol=lf
+*.svg text eol=lf
 lessc text eol=lf
 *.less text eol=lf
 *.css text eol=lf
diff --git a/lib/less-node/file-manager.js b/lib/less-node/file-manager.js
index 3d1a185bd..46802504d 100644
--- a/lib/less-node/file-manager.js
+++ b/lib/less-node/file-manager.js
@@ -23,36 +23,16 @@ FileManager.prototype.loadFile = function(filename, currentDirectory, options, e
 
     options = options || {};
 
-    var paths = isAbsoluteFilename ? [""] : [currentDirectory];
-    if (options.paths) paths.push.apply(paths, options.paths);
-    if (!isAbsoluteFilename && paths.indexOf('.') === -1) { paths.push('.'); }
-
     if (options.syncImport) {
-        var err, result;
-        for (var i = 0; i < paths.length; i++) {
-            try {
-	            fullFilename = filename;
-	            if (paths[i]) {
-                    fullFilename = path.join(paths[i], fullFilename);
-	            }
-                filenamesTried.push(fullFilename);
-                fs.statSync(fullFilename);
-                break;
-            } catch (e) {
-                fullFilename = null;
-            }
-        }
-
-        if (!fullFilename) {
-            err = { type: 'File', message: "'" + filename + "' wasn't found. Tried - " + filenamesTried.join(",") };
-        } else {
-            data = fs.readFileSync(fullFilename, 'utf-8');
-            result = { contents: data, filename: fullFilename};
-        }
-        callback(err, result);
+        data = this.loadFileSync(filename, currentDirectory, options, environment, 'utf-8');
+        callback(data.error, data);
         return;
     }
 
+    var paths = isAbsoluteFilename ? [""] : [currentDirectory];
+    if (options.paths) paths.push.apply(paths, options.paths);
+    if (!isAbsoluteFilename && paths.indexOf('.') === -1) { paths.push('.'); }
+
     // promise is guarenteed to be asyncronous
     // which helps as it allows the file handle
     // to be closed before it continues with the next file
@@ -82,9 +62,38 @@ FileManager.prototype.loadFile = function(filename, currentDirectory, options, e
     });
 };
 
-FileManager.prototype.loadFileSync = function(filename, currentDirectory, options, environment) {
-    filename = path.join(currentDirectory, filename);
-    return { contents: fs.readFileSync(filename), filename: filename };
+FileManager.prototype.loadFileSync = function(filename, currentDirectory, options, environment, encoding) {
+    var fullFilename, paths, filenamesTried=[], isAbsoluteFilename = this.isPathAbsolute(filename),data;
+    options = options || {};
+
+    paths = isAbsoluteFilename ? [""] : [currentDirectory];
+    if (options.paths) paths.push.apply(paths, options.paths);
+    if (!isAbsoluteFilename && paths.indexOf('.') === -1) { paths.push('.'); }
+
+    var err, result;
+    for (var i = 0; i < paths.length; i++) {
+        try {
+            fullFilename = filename;
+            if (paths[i]) {
+              fullFilename = path.join(paths[i], fullFilename);
+            }
+            filenamesTried.push(fullFilename);
+            fs.statSync(fullFilename);
+            break;
+        } catch (e) {
+            fullFilename = null;
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (!fullFilename) {
+        err = { type: 'File', message: "'" + filename + "' wasn't found. Tried - " + filenamesTried.join(",") };
+        result = { error: err };
+    } else {
+        data = fs.readFileSync(fullFilename, encoding);
+        result = { contents: data, filename: fullFilename};
+     }
+
+    return result;
 };
 
 module.exports = FileManager;
diff --git a/lib/less/contexts.js b/lib/less/contexts.js
index 5c0ef6d51..52b902ef9 100644
--- a/lib/less/contexts.js
+++ b/lib/less/contexts.js
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ contexts.Parse = function(options) {
 };
 
 var evalCopyProperties = [
+    'paths',          // additional include paths
     'compress',       // whether to compress
     'ieCompat',       // whether to enforce IE compatibility (IE8 data-uri)
     'strictMath',     // whether math has to be within parenthesis
diff --git a/lib/less/tree/expression.js b/lib/less/tree/expression.js
index 00024ceb5..c852d4215 100644
--- a/lib/less/tree/expression.js
+++ b/lib/less/tree/expression.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ var Node = require("./node"),
 var Expression = function (value) {
     this.value = value;
     if (!value) {
-        throw new Error("Expression requires a array parameter");
+        throw new Error("Expression requires an array parameter");
     }
 };
 Expression.prototype = new Node();
diff --git a/test/css/include-path/include-path.css b/test/css/include-path/include-path.css
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..586cb6174
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/css/include-path/include-path.css
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+body {
+  width: 100%;
+}
+data-uri {
+  property: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20height%3D%22100%22%20width%3D%22100%22%3E%0A%20%20%3Ccircle%20cx%3D%2250%22%20cy%3D%2250%22%20r%3D%2240%22%20stroke%3D%22black%22%20stroke-width%3D%221%22%20fill%3D%22blue%22%20%2F%3E%0A%3C%2Fsvg%3E");
+}
diff --git a/test/index.js b/test/index.js
index a82bc9a0e..1146ff57a 100644
--- a/test/index.js
+++ b/test/index.js
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ lessTester.runTestSet({globalVars: true, banner: "/**\n  * Test\n  */\n"}, "glob
 lessTester.runTestSet({modifyVars: true}, "modifyVars/",
     null, null, null, function(name) { return path.join('test/less/', name) + '.json'; });
 lessTester.runTestSet({urlArgs: '424242'}, "url-args/");
+lessTester.runTestSet({paths: ['test/data/','test/less/import/']}, "include-path/");
 lessTester.testSyncronous({syncImport: true}, "import");
 lessTester.testSyncronous({syncImport: true}, "css");
 lessTester.testNoOptions();
diff --git a/test/less-test.js b/test/less-test.js
index 93caf9be5..8a9dc4b6b 100644
--- a/test/less-test.js
+++ b/test/less-test.js
@@ -280,11 +280,24 @@ module.exports = function() {
         }
     }
 
-    function toCSS(options, path, callback) {
+    function contains(fullArray, obj) {
+        for (var i = 0; i < fullArray.length; i++) {
+            if (fullArray[i] === obj) {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
+
+
+  function toCSS(options, path, callback) {
         options = options || {};
-        var str = fs.readFileSync(path, 'utf8');
+        var str = fs.readFileSync(path, 'utf8'), addPath = require('path').dirname(path);
 
-        options.paths = [require('path').dirname(path)];
+        options.paths = options.paths || [];
+        if (!contains(options.paths, addPath)) {
+          options.paths.push(addPath);
+        }
         options.filename = require('path').resolve(process.cwd(), path);
         options.optimization = options.optimization || 0;
 
diff --git a/test/less/include-path/include-path.less b/test/less/include-path/include-path.less
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bd1f1d197
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/less/include-path/include-path.less
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+@import "import-test-e";
+
+data-uri {
+  property: data-uri('image.svg');
+}
+