diff --git a/src/cmd/cgo/doc.go b/src/cmd/cgo/doc.go
index 6179c7afd19..06d5be675b4 100644
--- a/src/cmd/cgo/doc.go
+++ b/src/cmd/cgo/doc.go
@@ -60,6 +60,18 @@ concatenated and used at link time.  All the pkg-config directives are
 concatenated and sent to pkg-config simultaneously to add to each appropriate
 set of command-line flags.
 
+When the cgo directives are parsed, any occurrence of the string ${SRCDIR}
+will be replaced by the absolute path to the directory containing the source
+file. This allows pre-compiled static libraries to be included in the package
+directory and linked properly.
+For example if package foo is in the directory /go/src/foo:
+
+       // #cgo LDFLAGS: -L${SRCDIR}/libs -lfoo
+
+Will be expanded to:
+
+       // #cgo LDFLAGS: -L/go/src/foo/libs -lfoo
+
 When the Go tool sees that one or more Go files use the special import
 "C", it will look for other non-Go files in the directory and compile
 them as part of the Go package.  Any .c, .s, or .S files will be
diff --git a/src/go/build/build.go b/src/go/build/build.go
index 9fb4b52e144..7cf2f1f774b 100644
--- a/src/go/build/build.go
+++ b/src/go/build/build.go
@@ -1120,10 +1120,12 @@ func (ctxt *Context) saveCgo(filename string, di *Package, cg *ast.CommentGroup)
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("%s: invalid #cgo line: %s", filename, orig)
 		}
-		for _, arg := range args {
+		for i, arg := range args {
+			arg = expandSrcDir(arg, di.Dir)
 			if !safeCgoName(arg) {
 				return fmt.Errorf("%s: malformed #cgo argument: %s", filename, arg)
 			}
+			args[i] = arg
 		}
 
 		switch verb {
@@ -1144,6 +1146,14 @@ func (ctxt *Context) saveCgo(filename string, di *Package, cg *ast.CommentGroup)
 	return nil
 }
 
+func expandSrcDir(str string, srcdir string) string {
+	// "\" delimited paths cause safeCgoName to fail
+	// so convert native paths with a different delimeter
+	// to "/" before starting (eg: on windows)
+	srcdir = filepath.ToSlash(srcdir)
+	return strings.Replace(str, "${SRCDIR}", srcdir, -1)
+}
+
 // NOTE: $ is not safe for the shell, but it is allowed here because of linker options like -Wl,$ORIGIN.
 // We never pass these arguments to a shell (just to programs we construct argv for), so this should be okay.
 // See golang.org/issue/6038.
diff --git a/src/go/build/build_test.go b/src/go/build/build_test.go
index bdd4c05675b..3985638189d 100644
--- a/src/go/build/build_test.go
+++ b/src/go/build/build_test.go
@@ -231,3 +231,33 @@ func TestImportCmd(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("Import cmd/internal/objfile returned Dir=%q, want %q", filepath.ToSlash(p.Dir), ".../src/cmd/internal/objfile")
 	}
 }
+
+var (
+	expandSrcDirPath = filepath.Join(string(filepath.Separator)+"projects", "src", "add")
+)
+
+var expandSrcDirTests = []struct {
+	input, expected string
+}{
+	{"-L ${SRCDIR}/libs -ladd", "-L /projects/src/add/libs -ladd"},
+	{"${SRCDIR}/add_linux_386.a -pthread -lstdc++", "/projects/src/add/add_linux_386.a -pthread -lstdc++"},
+	{"Nothing to expand here!", "Nothing to expand here!"},
+	{"$", "$"},
+	{"$$", "$$"},
+	{"${", "${"},
+	{"$}", "$}"},
+	{"$FOO ${BAR}", "$FOO ${BAR}"},
+	{"Find me the $SRCDIRECTORY.", "Find me the $SRCDIRECTORY."},
+	{"$SRCDIR is missing braces", "$SRCDIR is missing braces"},
+}
+
+func TestExpandSrcDir(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, test := range expandSrcDirTests {
+		output := expandSrcDir(test.input, expandSrcDirPath)
+		if output != test.expected {
+			t.Errorf("%q expands to %q with SRCDIR=%q when %q is expected", test.input, output, expandSrcDirPath, test.expected)
+		} else {
+			t.Logf("%q expands to %q with SRCDIR=%q", test.input, output, expandSrcDirPath)
+		}
+	}
+}