diff --git a/_docs/Gemfile.lock b/_docs/Gemfile.lock
index 9f6d1d5..afcd07a 100644
--- a/_docs/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/_docs/Gemfile.lock
@@ -80,6 +80,10 @@ GEM
       rb-inotify (~> 0.9, >= 0.9.10)
     logger (1.4.3)
     mercenary (0.4.0)
+    mini_portile2 (2.6.1)
+    nokogiri (1.12.5)
+      mini_portile2 (~> 2.6.1)
+      racc (~> 1.4)
     nokogiri (1.12.5-x86_64-linux)
       racc (~> 1.4)
     pathutil (0.16.2)
@@ -128,6 +132,7 @@ GEM
     word_wrap (1.0.0)
 
 PLATFORMS
+  ruby
   x86_64-linux
 
 DEPENDENCIES
diff --git a/_docs/_builds/snippets/includes_dirs_list.adoc b/_docs/_builds/snippets/includes_dirs_list.adoc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..90d98de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_docs/_builds/snippets/includes_dirs_list.adoc
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+
+{"liquidoc"=>[{"dirs"=>"'_templates','_templates/liquid','_templates/liquid/ops','_templates/ops','theme/_includes','theme/_layouts'"}]}
diff --git a/_docs/_ops/build-docs.yml b/_docs/_ops/build-docs.yml
index c08b71d..975c9c4 100644
--- a/_docs/_ops/build-docs.yml
+++ b/_docs/_ops/build-docs.yml
@@ -11,6 +11,18 @@
   builds:
     - output: _build/data/built/version.yml
       template: _templates/version.yaml
+- action: parse
+  data:
+    file: ../lib/liquidoc.rb
+    type: regex
+    pattern: '^\@includes_dirs_def\s\=\s\[(?<dirs>.*)\]'
+  builds:
+    - output: _build/data/built/includes_dirs.json
+- action: parse
+  data: _build/data/built/includes_dirs.json
+  builds:
+    - output: _build/snippets/built/includes-dirs-list.adoc
+      template: _templates/includes-dirs-list.asciidoc
 - action: render
   source: index.adoc
   data:
diff --git a/_docs/_templates/includes-dirs-list.asciidoc b/_docs/_templates/includes-dirs-list.asciidoc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c713763
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_docs/_templates/includes-dirs-list.asciidoc
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{%- assign list = data.liquidoc[0]['dirs'] | replace:"'","" | split:"," %}
+{%- for item in list %}
+* `{{ item }}`
+{%- endfor %}
diff --git a/_docs/topics/reference.adoc b/_docs/topics/reference.adoc
index e01c4f7..a9efe8b 100644
--- a/_docs/topics/reference.adoc
+++ b/_docs/topics/reference.adoc
@@ -108,6 +108,12 @@ s| variables
 | N/A
 | N/A
 
+s| includes_dirs
+| Optional
+| N/A
+| N/A
+| N/A
+
 s| properties
 | N/A
 | N/A
diff --git a/_docs/topics/templating_liquid.adoc b/_docs/topics/templating_liquid.adoc
index 3e18c7a..b7acdea 100644
--- a/_docs/topics/templating_liquid.adoc
+++ b/_docs/topics/templating_liquid.adoc
@@ -202,6 +202,35 @@ LiquiDoc does not have an equivalent of https://jekyllrb.com/docs/liquid/tags/#c
 For now, we will leave Liquid's core tags best documented in Shopify's https://shopify.github.io/liquid/[official Liquid documentation], as augmented by their https://github.com/shopify/liquid/wiki/Liquid-for-Designers[Liquid for Designers].
 Ignore all of Jekyll's tag documentation when working on LiquiDoc templates, in favor of the following.
 
+.Designating Alternate Includes Source Directories
+****
+For templates that employ the Liquid `include` tag to transclude additional template files, LiquiDoc trawls certain directories in search of the named template.
+
+By default, LiquiDoc will check the following paths for a template with the indicated filename:
+
+include::../_build/snippets/built/includes-dirs-list.adoc[]
+
+Additionally, the directory of the primary template will be appended to this list, so LiquiDoc will always scan the calling template's own directory first for a matching file.
+
+To override the default list, add the `includes_dirs` property to the `build` block.
+
+.Example -- Custom includes paths
+[source,yaml]
+----
+- action: parse
+  data: mydata.yml
+  builds:
+    - output: _build/myoutput.txt
+      template: _extras/mytemplate.text
+      includes_dirs:
+        - _includes
+        - _build/_includes
+----
+
+In the above example, assuming `mytemplate.text` contains one or more `include` tags, the directories `+++_includes/+++` and `+++_build/_includes/+++` will be checked _instead of_ the default directories.
+The main template's home directory (`_extras/`) will also be checked.
+****
+
 === Filters
 
 LiquiDoc is proud to offer the largest set of Liquid filters available in one place.
diff --git a/lib/liquid/tags/jekyll.rb b/lib/liquid/tags/jekyll.rb
index 0e94ab1..41fab13 100644
--- a/lib/liquid/tags/jekyll.rb
+++ b/lib/liquid/tags/jekyll.rb
@@ -112,13 +112,14 @@ def render_variable(context)
 
       # Array of directories where includes are stored
       def tag_includes_dirs(context)
-        # context[:includes_dirs]
-        ['_templates','_templates/liquid','_templates/liquid/ops','theme/_includes','_theme/layouts']
+        context.stack do
+          context['includes_dirs']
+        end
       end
 
       # Traverse includes dirs, setting paths for includes
       def locate_include_file(context, file, safe)
-        includes_dirs = ['_templates','_templates/liquid','_templates/liquid/ops','_templates/ops','theme/_includes','theme/_layouts']
+        includes_dirs = self.tag_includes_dirs(context)
         includes_dirs.each do |dir|
           path = File.join(dir.to_s, file.to_s)
           return path if File.exist?(path)
diff --git a/lib/liquidoc.rb b/lib/liquidoc.rb
index 83969c1..a260328 100755
--- a/lib/liquidoc.rb
+++ b/lib/liquidoc.rb
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
 @build_dir = @build_dir_def
 @configs_dir = @base_dir + '_configs'
 @templates_dir = @base_dir + '_templates/'
-@includes_dirs_def = ['.','_templates','_templates/liquid','_templates/liquid/ops','_templates/ops','theme/_includes','_theme/layouts']
+@includes_dirs_def = ['_templates','_templates/liquid','_templates/liquid/ops','_templates/ops','theme/_includes','theme/_layouts']
 @includes_dirs = @includes_dirs_def
 @data_dir = @base_dir + '_data/'
 @data_files = nil
@@ -155,7 +155,8 @@ def iterate_build cfg
           build.add_data!(build.variables, "vars") if build.variables
           includes_dirs = @includes_dirs
           includes_dirs = build.includes_dirs if build.includes_dirs
-          build.add_data!({:includes_dirs=>includes_dirs})
+          includes_dirs.unshift(File.dirname(build.template))
+          build.add_data!(includes_dirs: includes_dirs)
           liquify(build.data, build.template, build.output) # perform the liquify operation
         else # Prep & perform a direct conversion
           # Delete nested data and vars objects
@@ -1636,7 +1637,7 @@ def to_json input
     @template_file = @base_dir + n
   end
 
-  opts.on("--includes PATH[,PATH]", "Paths to directories where includes (partials) can be found." ) do |n|
+  opts.on("--includes_dirs PATH[,PATH]", "Paths to directories where includes (partials) can be found. Overrides default directories." ) do |n|
     n = n.force_array
     # n.map { |p| @base_dir + p }
     @includes_dirs = @includes_dirs.concat n
diff --git a/lib/liquidoc/version.rb b/lib/liquidoc/version.rb
index c4523de..c534ef4 100644
--- a/lib/liquidoc/version.rb
+++ b/lib/liquidoc/version.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 module Liquidoc
-  VERSION = "0.12.0"
+  VERSION = "0.12.1-rc1"
 end