diff --git a/atom/common/api/atom_api_native_image.cc b/atom/common/api/atom_api_native_image.cc
index a810069e71b..3d000b6d5d9 100644
--- a/atom/common/api/atom_api_native_image.cc
+++ b/atom/common/api/atom_api_native_image.cc
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include "atom/common/native_mate_converters/gurl_converter.h"
 #include "atom/common/node_includes.h"
 #include "base/base64.h"
+#include "base/files/file_util.h"
 #include "base/strings/string_util.h"
 #include "base/strings/pattern.h"
 #include "native_mate/dictionary.h"
@@ -119,6 +120,20 @@ bool PopulateImageSkiaRepsFromPath(gfx::ImageSkia* image,
   return succeed;
 }
 
+base::FilePath NormalizePath(const base::FilePath& path) {
+  if (!path.ReferencesParent()) {
+    return path;
+  }
+
+  base::FilePath absolute_path = MakeAbsoluteFilePath(path);
+  // MakeAbsoluteFilePath returns an empty path on failures so use original path
+  if (absolute_path.empty()) {
+    return path;
+  } else {
+    return absolute_path;
+  }
+}
+
 #if defined(OS_MACOSX)
 bool IsTemplateFilename(const base::FilePath& path) {
   return (base::MatchPattern(path.value(), "*Template.*") ||
@@ -254,17 +269,19 @@ mate::Handle<NativeImage> NativeImage::CreateFromJPEG(
 mate::Handle<NativeImage> NativeImage::CreateFromPath(
     v8::Isolate* isolate, const base::FilePath& path) {
   gfx::ImageSkia image_skia;
-  if (path.MatchesExtension(FILE_PATH_LITERAL(".ico"))) {
+  base::FilePath image_path = NormalizePath(path);
+
+  if (image_path.MatchesExtension(FILE_PATH_LITERAL(".ico"))) {
 #if defined(OS_WIN)
-    ReadImageSkiaFromICO(&image_skia, path);
+    ReadImageSkiaFromICO(&image_skia, image_path);
 #endif
   } else {
-    PopulateImageSkiaRepsFromPath(&image_skia, path);
+    PopulateImageSkiaRepsFromPath(&image_skia, image_path);
   }
   gfx::Image image(image_skia);
   mate::Handle<NativeImage> handle = Create(isolate, image);
 #if defined(OS_MACOSX)
-  if (IsTemplateFilename(path))
+  if (IsTemplateFilename(image_path))
     handle->SetTemplateImage(true);
 #endif
   return handle;
diff --git a/spec/api-native-image-spec.js b/spec/api-native-image-spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..043a914578c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/api-native-image-spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+'use strict';
+
+const assert = require('assert');
+const nativeImage = require('electron').nativeImage;
+const path = require('path');
+
+describe('nativeImage module', () => {
+  describe('createFromPath(path)', () => {
+    it('returns an empty image for invalid paths', () => {
+      assert(nativeImage.createFromPath('').isEmpty());
+      assert(nativeImage.createFromPath('does-not-exist.png').isEmpty());
+    });
+
+    it('loads images from paths relative to the current working directory', () => {
+      const imagePath = `.${path.sep}${path.join('spec', 'fixtures', 'assets', 'logo.png')}`;
+      const image = nativeImage.createFromPath(imagePath);
+      assert(!image.isEmpty());
+      assert.equal(image.getSize().height, 190);
+      assert.equal(image.getSize().width, 538);
+    });
+
+    it('loads images from paths with `.` segments', () => {
+      const imagePath = `${path.join(__dirname, 'fixtures')}${path.sep}.${path.sep}${path.join('assets', 'logo.png')}`;
+      const image = nativeImage.createFromPath(imagePath);
+      assert(!image.isEmpty());
+      assert.equal(image.getSize().height, 190);
+      assert.equal(image.getSize().width, 538);
+    });
+
+    it('loads images from paths with `..` segments', () => {
+      const imagePath = `${path.join(__dirname, 'fixtures', 'api')}${path.sep}..${path.sep}${path.join('assets', 'logo.png')}`;
+      const image = nativeImage.createFromPath(imagePath);
+      assert(!image.isEmpty());
+      assert.equal(image.getSize().height, 190);
+      assert.equal(image.getSize().width, 538);
+    });
+  });
+});