diff --git a/cli/exec/exec.go b/cli/exec/exec.go
index 44dabe116e..b1907e6c4e 100644
--- a/cli/exec/exec.go
+++ b/cli/exec/exec.go
@@ -57,7 +57,12 @@ func run(c *cli.Context) error {
 
 func execDir(c *cli.Context, dir string) error {
 	// TODO: respect pipeline dependency
-	repoPath, _ := filepath.Abs(filepath.Dir(dir))
+	repoPath := c.String("repo-path")
+	if repoPath != "" {
+		repoPath, _ = filepath.Abs(repoPath)
+	} else {
+		repoPath, _ = filepath.Abs(filepath.Dir(dir))
+	}
 	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
 		repoPath = convertPathForWindows(repoPath)
 	}
@@ -79,7 +84,12 @@ func execDir(c *cli.Context, dir string) error {
 }
 
 func execFile(c *cli.Context, file string) error {
-	repoPath, _ := filepath.Abs(filepath.Dir(file))
+	repoPath := c.String("repo-path")
+	if repoPath != "" {
+		repoPath, _ = filepath.Abs(repoPath)
+	} else {
+		repoPath, _ = filepath.Abs(filepath.Dir(file))
+	}
 	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
 		repoPath = convertPathForWindows(repoPath)
 	}
diff --git a/cli/exec/flags.go b/cli/exec/flags.go
index be2bb69a27..dd65b6af13 100644
--- a/cli/exec/flags.go
+++ b/cli/exec/flags.go
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ var flags = []cli.Flag{
 		Usage:   "run from local directory",
 		Value:   true,
 	},
+	&cli.StringFlag{
+		EnvVars: []string{"WOODPECKER_REPO_PATH"},
+		Name:    "repo-path",
+		Usage:   "path to local repository",
+	},
 	&cli.DurationFlag{
 		EnvVars: []string{"WOODPECKER_TIMEOUT"},
 		Name:    "timeout",
diff --git a/docs/versioned_docs/version-2.4/40-cli.md b/docs/versioned_docs/version-2.4/40-cli.md
index 6766e9d78f..639c2ebfb4 100644
--- a/docs/versioned_docs/version-2.4/40-cli.md
+++ b/docs/versioned_docs/version-2.4/40-cli.md
@@ -280,6 +280,8 @@ execute a local pipeline
 
 **--repo-clone-url**="":
 
+**--repo-path**="": path to local repository
+
 **--repo-private**="":
 
 **--repo-remote-id**="":