diff --git a/python/ModelTools.py b/python/ModelTools.py
index 6728d430156..61ac006ad3d 100644
--- a/python/ModelTools.py
+++ b/python/ModelTools.py
@@ -38,6 +38,20 @@ def __call__(self, *args):
             self.imp(*args)
 
 
+def goodpath(s, permissive=False):
+    """Need to be used in FileCache for shapes and here for rateParameters"""
+    if not s.startswith("/"):
+        return True
+    if "CMSSW_BASE" in os.environ and s.startswith(os.environ["CMSSW_BASE"] + "/src/HiggsAnalysis/CombinedLimit/data"):
+        return True
+    if "HiggsAnalysis" in s.split("/") and "CombinedLimit" in s.split("/") and "data" in s.split("/"):
+        return True  ## standalone?
+    if permissive:
+        print("Warning: you have an absolute path in your datacard: ", s)
+        return True
+    raise RuntimeError("No!No!No! You can't use absolute paths anymore")
+
+
 class ModelBuilderBase:
     """This class defines the basic stuff for a model builder, and it's an interface on top of RooWorkspace::factory or HLF files"""
 
@@ -70,6 +84,8 @@ def __init__(self, options):
         if options.cexpr:
             global ROOFIT_EXPR
             ROOFIT_EXPR = "cexpr"
+        if not hasattr(options, "absPath"):
+            options.absPath = False
 
     def addObj(self, classtype, name, *args):
         if name not in self.objstore:
@@ -231,6 +247,7 @@ def doExtArgs(self):
                     self.out._import(wstmp.arg(rp), *importargs)
                 else:
                     fitmp = ROOT.TFile.Open(fin)
+                    goodpath(fin, self.options.absPath)
                     if not fitmp:
                         raise RuntimeError("No File '%s' found for extArg" % fin)
                     wstmp = fitmp.Get(wsn)
@@ -289,6 +306,7 @@ def doRateParams(self):
                     self.out._import(wstmp.arg(argu), ROOT.RooFit.RecycleConflictNodes())
                 else:
                     fitmp = ROOT.TFile.Open(fin)
+                    goodpath(fin)
                     if not fitmp:
                         raise RuntimeError("No File '%s' found for rateParam" % fin)
                     wstmp = fitmp.Get(wsn)
diff --git a/python/ShapeTools.py b/python/ShapeTools.py
index 8f9921082b0..d868d4ad31c 100644
--- a/python/ShapeTools.py
+++ b/python/ShapeTools.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 from six.moves import range
 
 import ROOT
-from HiggsAnalysis.CombinedLimit.ModelTools import ModelBuilder
+from HiggsAnalysis.CombinedLimit.ModelTools import ModelBuilder, goodpath
 
 from .DataFrameWrapper import DataFrameWrapper
 
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ def __init__(self, basedir, maxsize=250):
         self._files = {}
         self._hits = defaultdict(int)
         self._total = 0
+        self._absPath = False
 
     def __getitem__(self, fname):
         self._total += 1
@@ -50,6 +51,7 @@ def __getitem__(self, fname):
                 trueFName = self._basedir + "/" + trueFName
             # interpret file from extension - csv, json, html, pkl, xlsx, h5, parquet
             filepath = trueFName.split(":")[0]
+            goodpath(trueFName, self._absPath)
             filename, ext = os.path.splitext(filepath)
             if ext in [".csv", ".json", ".html", ".pkl", ".xlsx", ".h5", ".parquet"]:
                 filehandle = DataFrameWrapper(trueFName, ext)
@@ -76,6 +78,7 @@ def __init__(self, datacard, options):
         self.extraImports = []
         self.norm_rename_map = {}
         self._fileCache = FileCache(self.options.baseDir)
+        self._fileCache._absPath = options.absPath
 
     ## ------------------------------------------
     ## -------- ModelBuilder interface ----------
diff --git a/scripts/text2workspace.py b/scripts/text2workspace.py
index db78d816339..b486507bd04 100755
--- a/scripts/text2workspace.py
+++ b/scripts/text2workspace.py
@@ -60,6 +60,13 @@
     action="store_true",
     help="Swap multipdf pdfs with their current index pdf",
 )
+parser.add_option(
+    "--X-allow-abs-path",
+    dest="absPath",
+    default=False,
+    action="store_true",
+    help="Swap multipdf pdfs with their current index pdf",
+)
 (options, args) = parser.parse_args()
 
 if len(args) == 0: