diff --git a/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/Markdown.hs b/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/Markdown.hs
index bc5e3e30f..9a5e0889e 100644
--- a/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/Markdown.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/Markdown.hs
@@ -1924,7 +1924,10 @@ rebasePath :: SourcePos -> Text -> Text
 rebasePath pos path = do
   let fp = sourceName pos
       isFragment = T.take 1 path == "#"
-   in if T.null path || isFragment || isAbsolute (T.unpack path) || isURI path
+      -- check for leading / because on Windows this won't be
+      -- recognized as absolute by isAbsolute
+      isAbsolutePath = isAbsolute (T.unpack path) || T.take 1 path == "/"
+   in if T.null path || isFragment || isAbsolutePath || isURI path
          then path
          else
            case takeDirectory fp of