diff --git a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/FreeStyleProject.java b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/FreeStyleProject.java
index a1407951358e704a879b58298396d799d2b95e0e..c7f510d96576c6ab2515706b69dedb0e6926cbf9 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/FreeStyleProject.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/FreeStyleProject.java
@@ -2,12 +2,35 @@ package hudson.model;
 
 import hudson.FilePath;
 
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.kohsuke.stapler.StaplerRequest;
+import org.kohsuke.stapler.StaplerResponse;
+
+import javax.servlet.ServletException;
+
 /**
  * Free-style software project.
  * 
  * @author Kohsuke Kawaguchi
  */
 public class FreeStyleProject extends Project<FreeStyleProject,FreeStyleBuild> implements TopLevelItem {
+    /**
+     * User-specified workspace directory, or null if it's up to Hudson.
+     *
+     * <p>
+     * Normally a free-style project uses the workspace location assigned by its parent container,
+     * but sometimes people have builds that have hard-coded paths (which can be only built in
+     * certain locations. see http://www.nabble.com/Customize-Workspace-directory-tt17194310.html for
+     * one such discussion.)
+     *
+     * <p>
+     * This is not {@link File} because it may have to hold a path representation on another OS.
+     *
+     * @since 1.216
+     */
+    private String customWorkspace;
 
     public FreeStyleProject(Hudson parent, String name) {
         super(parent, name);
@@ -23,13 +46,28 @@ public class FreeStyleProject extends Project<FreeStyleProject,FreeStyleBuild> i
         return Hudson.getInstance();
     }
 
+    public String getCustomWorkspace() {
+        return customWorkspace;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public FilePath getWorkspace() {
         Node node = getLastBuiltOn();
         if(node==null)  node = getParent();
+        if(customWorkspace!=null)
+            return node.createPath(customWorkspace);
         return node.getWorkspaceFor(this);
     }
 
+    protected void submit(StaplerRequest req, StaplerResponse rsp) throws IOException, ServletException, Descriptor.FormException {
+        if(req.hasParameter("customWorkspace"))
+            customWorkspace = req.getParameter("customWorkspace.directory");
+        else
+            customWorkspace = null;
+
+        super.submit(req, rsp);
+    }
+
     public DescriptorImpl getDescriptor() {
         return DESCRIPTOR;
     }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Hudson.java b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Hudson.java
index ddcbb3f6c2c3bc8a436568bbaa7b05425b08a117..ba75639ce13e598b13a51e255ef5b3328d4d9405 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Hudson.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Hudson.java
@@ -935,6 +935,10 @@ public final class Hudson extends View implements ItemGroup<TopLevelItem>, Node,
         return new FilePath(getRootDir());
     }
 
+    public FilePath createPath(String absolutePath) {
+        return new FilePath((VirtualChannel)null,absolutePath);
+    }
+
     public ClockDifference getClockDifference() {
         return ClockDifference.ZERO;
     }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Node.java b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Node.java
index 752160d02ee98fdb592abf6ed2af92a72e2bdb33..13a18affaf5fcf59dc7e1eabd730a26475fdd006 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Node.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Node.java
@@ -106,6 +106,11 @@ public interface Node {
      */
     FilePath getRootPath();
 
+    /**
+     * Gets the {@link FilePath} on this node.
+     */
+    FilePath createPath(String absolutePath);
+
     /**
      * Estimates the clock difference with this slave.
      *
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Slave.java b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Slave.java
index 31b3ccc524d69b54aa8304f1ef09ebf91b354a8d..381734800695e29fb9fc24ede219fbc2355ed354 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Slave.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/Slave.java
@@ -311,9 +311,13 @@ public final class Slave implements Node, Serializable {
     }
 
     public FilePath getRootPath() {
+        return createPath(remoteFS);
+    }
+
+    public FilePath createPath(String absolutePath) {
         VirtualChannel ch = getComputer().getChannel();
         if(ch==null)    return null;    // offline
-        return new FilePath(ch,remoteFS);
+        return new FilePath(ch,absolutePath);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/core/src/main/resources/hudson/model/FreeStyleProject/configure-advanced.jelly b/core/src/main/resources/hudson/model/FreeStyleProject/configure-advanced.jelly
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2d0c2d3c1cfc9034af8317cc7648e415c4b0465f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/main/resources/hudson/model/FreeStyleProject/configure-advanced.jelly
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+<!--
+  Additional entries in the advanced section.
+-->
+<j:jelly xmlns:j="jelly:core" xmlns:st="jelly:stapler" xmlns:d="jelly:define" xmlns:l="/lib/layout" xmlns:t="/lib/hudson" xmlns:f="/lib/form" xmlns:p="/lib/hudson/project">
+  <f:optionalBlock name="customWorkspace" title="${%Use custom workspace}" checked="${it.customWorkspace!=null}"
+      help="/help/project-config/custom-workspace.html">
+    <f:entry title="${%Directory}">
+      <f:textbox name="customWorkspace.directory" value="${it.customWorkspace}" />
+    </f:entry>
+  </f:optionalBlock>
+</j:jelly>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/war/resources/help/project-config/custom-workspace.html b/war/resources/help/project-config/custom-workspace.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..35263c216c392c26c865503fb8b87b32b4232fb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/war/resources/help/project-config/custom-workspace.html
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+<div>
+  For each job on Hudson, Hudson allocates a unique "workspace directory." This is the directory
+  where the code is checked out and builds happen. Normally you should let Hudson allocate
+  and clean up workspace directories, but in several situations this is problematic,
+  and in such case, this option lets you specify the workspace location manually.
+
+  <p>
+  Once such situation is where paths are hard-coded and the code needs to be built on a specific location.
+  (and you can find one such discussion <a href="http://www.nabble.com/Customize-Workspace-directory-tt17194310.html">here</a>.)
+  While there's no doubt that such a build is not ideal, this option allows you to get going in such a situation.
+
+  <p>
+  Another situation where this is useful is when you are using the free-style project type not to perform
+  a software build, but execution of a certain batch task, perhaps as a cron replacement. In such case,
+  you can use this option to map the relevant directory as the workspace, so that people can look at files
+  through the Hudson web UI, and you can kick relevant commands more easily.
+
+  <p>
+  If you are in a distributed build environment, unless you tie a job to a specific node, Hudson may still
+  move around jobs to different slaves. Sometimes this is desirable, sometimes this is not. Also,
+  you can map multiple projects to have the same workspace, but if you do so, make sure concurrent executions
+  of those jobs won't have nasty interferance with each other.
+</div>
\ No newline at end of file