diff --git a/jsonschema/cli.py b/jsonschema/cli.py
index abea97666..6a23464ed 100644
--- a/jsonschema/cli.py
+++ b/jsonschema/cli.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 import errno
 import json
 import sys
+import os
 import traceback
 
 import attr
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@
 from jsonschema._reflect import namedAny
 from jsonschema.compat import JSONDecodeError
 from jsonschema.exceptions import SchemaError
-from jsonschema.validators import validator_for
+from jsonschema.validators import validator_for, RefResolver
 
 
 class _CannotLoadFile(Exception):
@@ -179,6 +180,15 @@ def _namedAnyWithDefault(name):
         of the class.
     """,
 )
+parser.add_argument(
+    "-r", "--local-ref",
+    action="store_true",
+    help="""
+        use this option to indicate that the schema contains some references
+        to some local files. With this option, the validator will try to
+        resolve those references as paths relative to the given schema.
+    """,
+)
 parser.add_argument(
     "--version",
     action="version",
@@ -252,7 +262,14 @@ def load(_):
                 raise _CannotLoadFile()
         instances = ["<stdin>"]
 
-    validator = arguments["validator"](schema)
+    if arguments["local_ref"]:
+        resolver = RefResolver(
+            base_uri="file:{}".format(os.path.abspath(arguments["schema"])),
+            referrer=schema,
+        )
+    else:
+        resolver = None
+    validator = arguments["validator"](schema, resolver=resolver)
     exit_code = 0
     for each in instances:
         try: