diff --git a/book-example/book.toml b/book-example/book.toml
index d21c8487..6bb796ca 100644
--- a/book-example/book.toml
+++ b/book-example/book.toml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ edition = "2018"
 
 [output.html]
 mathjax-support = true
+site-url = "/"
 
 [output.html.playpen]
 editable = true
diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 8a8f6ce5..b955e352 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -511,6 +511,8 @@ pub struct HtmlConfig {
     pub input_404: Option<String>,
     /// Output path for 404.html file, defaults to 404.html, set to "" to disable 404 file output
     pub output_404: Option<String>,
+    /// Absolute url to site, used to emit correct paths for the 404 page, which might be accessed in a deeply nested directory
+    pub site_url: Option<String>,
     /// This is used as a bit of a workaround for the `mdbook serve` command.
     /// Basically, because you set the websocket port from the command line, the
     /// `mdbook serve` command needs a way to let the HTML renderer know where
@@ -544,6 +546,7 @@ impl Default for HtmlConfig {
             git_repository_icon: None,
             input_404: None,
             output_404: None,
+            site_url: None,
             livereload_url: None,
             redirect: HashMap::new(),
         }
diff --git a/src/renderer/html_handlebars/hbs_renderer.rs b/src/renderer/html_handlebars/hbs_renderer.rs
index b99b83a0..61088218 100644
--- a/src/renderer/html_handlebars/hbs_renderer.rs
+++ b/src/renderer/html_handlebars/hbs_renderer.rs
@@ -464,6 +464,13 @@ impl Renderer for HtmlHandlebars {
             let html_content_404 = utils::render_markdown(&content_404, html_config.curly_quotes);
 
             let mut data_404 = data.clone();
+            let base_url = if let Some(site_url) = &html_config.site_url {
+                site_url
+            } else {
+                warn!("HTML 'site-url' parameter not set, defaulting to '/'. Please configure this to ensure the 404 page work correctly, especially if your site is hosted in a subdirectory on the HTTP server.");
+                "/"
+            };
+            data_404.insert("base_url".to_owned(), json!(base_url));
             data_404.insert("path".to_owned(), json!("404.md"));
             data_404.insert("content".to_owned(), json!(html_content_404));
             let rendered = handlebars.render("index", &data_404)?;
diff --git a/src/theme/index.hbs b/src/theme/index.hbs
index e8a92dd0..d6e5ce47 100644
--- a/src/theme/index.hbs
+++ b/src/theme/index.hbs
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@
         {{#if is_print }}
         <meta name="robots" content="noindex" />
         {{/if}}
+        {{#if base_url}}
+        <base href="{{ base_url }}">
+        {{/if}}
+
 
         <!-- Custom HTML head -->
         {{> head}}