diff --git a/bin/core/imag-ref/src/main.rs b/bin/core/imag-ref/src/main.rs
index a9500beb..adb8d1e2 100644
--- a/bin/core/imag-ref/src/main.rs
+++ b/bin/core/imag-ref/src/main.rs
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 
 #[macro_use] extern crate log;
 extern crate clap;
+extern crate failure;
 
 extern crate libimagstore;
 #[macro_use] extern crate libimagrt;
@@ -50,6 +51,8 @@ use ui::build_ui;
 use std::process::exit;
 use std::io::Write;
 
+use failure::Error;
+
 use libimagerror::trace::MapErrTrace;
 use libimagerror::exit::ExitUnwrap;
 use libimagrt::setup::generate_runtime_setup;
@@ -86,27 +89,30 @@ fn main() {
 }
 
 fn deref(rt: &Runtime) {
-    let cmd = rt.cli().subcommand_matches("deref").unwrap();
-    let ids = rt.ids::<::ui::PathProvider>().map_err_trace_exit_unwrap();
-    let cfg = get_ref_config(&rt, "imag-ref").map_err_trace_exit_unwrap();
-    let out = rt.stdout();
+    let cmd         = rt.cli().subcommand_matches("deref").unwrap();
+    let basepath    = cmd.value_of("override-basepath");
+    let ids         = rt.ids::<::ui::PathProvider>().map_err_trace_exit_unwrap();
+    let cfg         = get_ref_config(&rt, "imag-ref").map_err_trace_exit_unwrap();
+    let out         = rt.stdout();
     let mut outlock = out.lock();
 
     ids.into_iter()
         .for_each(|id| {
             match rt.store().get(id.clone()).map_err_trace_exit_unwrap() {
                 Some(entry) => {
-                    entry
-                        .as_ref_with_hasher::<DefaultHasher>()
-                        .get_path(&cfg)
-                        .map_err_trace_exit_unwrap()
-                        .to_str()
-                        .ok_or_else(|| {
-                            error!("Could not transform path into string!");
-                            exit(1)
-                        })
-                        .map(|s| writeln!(outlock, "{}", s))
-                        .ok(); // safe here because we exited already in the error case
+                    let r_entry = entry.as_ref_with_hasher::<DefaultHasher>();
+
+                    if let Some(alternative_basepath) = basepath {
+                        r_entry.get_path_with_basepath_setting(&cfg, alternative_basepath)
+                    } else {
+                        r_entry.get_path(&cfg)
+                    }
+                    .map_err_trace_exit_unwrap()
+                    .to_str()
+                    .ok_or_else(|| ::libimagerror::errors::ErrorMsg::UTF8Error)
+                    .map_err(Error::from)
+                    .and_then(|s| writeln!(outlock, "{}", s).map_err(Error::from))
+                    .map_err_trace_exit_unwrap();
 
                     let _ = rt.report_touched(&id).unwrap_or_exit();
                 },
diff --git a/bin/core/imag-ref/src/ui.rs b/bin/core/imag-ref/src/ui.rs
index c14eafe2..1a264ea5 100644
--- a/bin/core/imag-ref/src/ui.rs
+++ b/bin/core/imag-ref/src/ui.rs
@@ -45,6 +45,14 @@ pub fn build_ui<'a>(app: App<'a, 'a>) -> App<'a, 'a> {
                          .required(false)
                          .multiple(false)
                          .help("Ignore store entries which are not refs and do not print error message"))
+
+                    .arg(Arg::with_name("override-basepath")
+                         .long("basepath-setting")
+                         .short("B")
+                         .takes_value(true)
+                         .required(false)
+                         .multiple(false)
+                         .help("Override the basepath key to look up in the configuration"))
                     )
 
         .subcommand(SubCommand::with_name("remove")
diff --git a/lib/entry/libimagentryref/src/reference.rs b/lib/entry/libimagentryref/src/reference.rs
index fe9014d8..da1ce325 100644
--- a/lib/entry/libimagentryref/src/reference.rs
+++ b/lib/entry/libimagentryref/src/reference.rs
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ use libimagerror::errors::ErrorMsg as EM;
 
 use toml::Value;
 use toml_query::read::TomlValueReadExt;
+use toml_query::read::TomlValueReadTypeExt;
 use toml_query::read::Partial;
 use toml_query::delete::TomlValueDeleteExt;
 use toml_query::insert::TomlValueInsertExt;
@@ -146,6 +147,9 @@ pub trait Ref {
 
     fn get_path(&self, config: &Config) -> Result<PathBuf>;
 
+    fn get_path_with_basepath_setting<B>(&self, config: &Config, base: B) -> Result<PathBuf>
+        where B: AsRef<str>;
+
     fn get_relative_path(&self) -> Result<PathBuf>;
 
     /// Get the stored hash.
@@ -180,20 +184,25 @@ impl<'a, H: Hasher> Ref for RefWithHasher<'a, H> {
 
     /// Get the path of the actual file
     fn get_path(&self, config: &Config) -> Result<PathBuf> {
-        use toml_query::read::TomlValueReadTypeExt;
+        let basepath_name = self.0
+            .get_header()
+            .read_string("ref.basepath")?
+            .ok_or_else(|| Error::from(EM::EntryHeaderFieldMissing("ref.basepath")))?;
 
+        self.get_path_with_basepath_setting(config, basepath_name)
+    }
+
+    fn get_path_with_basepath_setting<B>(&self, config: &Config, base: B)
+        -> Result<PathBuf>
+            where B: AsRef<str>
+    {
         let relpath = self.0
             .get_header()
             .read_string("ref.relpath")?
             .map(PathBuf::from)
             .ok_or_else(|| Error::from(EM::EntryHeaderFieldMissing("ref.relpath")))?;
 
-        let basepath_name = self.0
-            .get_header()
-            .read_string("ref.basepath")?
-            .ok_or_else(|| Error::from(EM::EntryHeaderFieldMissing("ref.basepath")))?;
-
-        get_file_path(config, &basepath_name, relpath)
+        get_file_path(config, base.as_ref(), relpath)
     }
 
     /// Get the relative path, relative to the configured basepath