diff --git a/doc/source/admin/image-building.rst b/doc/source/admin/image-building.rst
index e386873616..de5f4d8e8b 100644
--- a/doc/source/admin/image-building.rst
+++ b/doc/source/admin/image-building.rst
@@ -149,6 +149,19 @@ The ``kolla-build.conf`` file could look like this:
    Note that the name of the section should exactly match the image name
    you are trying to change source location for.
 
+If using the ``local`` source type, the ``--locals-base`` flag can be used to
+define a path prefix, which you can reference in the config.
+
+.. path etc/kolla/kolla-build.conf
+.. code-block:: ini
+
+  [DEFAULTS]
+  locals_base = /home/kolla/src
+
+  [heat-base]
+  type = local
+  location = $locals_base/heat
+
 .. _dockerfile-customisation:
 
 Dockerfile customisation
diff --git a/kolla/common/config.py b/kolla/common/config.py
index 58a4e18aa3..dca9e278c9 100644
--- a/kolla/common/config.py
+++ b/kolla/common/config.py
@@ -168,6 +168,8 @@ _CLI_OPTS = [
                 help='Show image dependencies (filtering supported)'),
     cfg.BoolOpt('list-images',
                 help='Show all available images (filtering supported)'),
+    cfg.StrOpt('locals-base', default='./',
+               help='Base directory for local source resolution'),
     cfg.StrOpt('namespace', short='n', default='kolla',
                help='The Docker namespace name'),
     cfg.StrOpt('network_mode', default='host',