diff --git a/cmd/helm/install_test.go b/cmd/helm/install_test.go
index 7a101940f..1a6524c63 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/install_test.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/install_test.go
@@ -47,6 +47,12 @@ func TestInstall(t *testing.T) {
 			cmd:    "install virgil testdata/testcharts/alpine -f testdata/testcharts/alpine/extra_values.yaml",
 			golden: "output/install-with-values-file.txt",
 		},
+		// Install, external files
+		{
+			name:   "install with external files",
+			cmd:    "install virgil testdata/testcharts/configmap --include-file external.txt=testdata/external.txt",
+			golden: "output/install-with-external-files.txt",
+		},
 		// Install, no hooks
 		{
 			name:   "install without hooks",
diff --git a/cmd/helm/template_test.go b/cmd/helm/template_test.go
index 92dd9825e..17caeeb45 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/template_test.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/template_test.go
@@ -121,6 +121,11 @@ func TestTemplateCmd(t *testing.T) {
 			wantError: true,
 			golden:    "output/template-with-invalid-yaml-debug.txt",
 		},
+		{
+			name:   "chart with template with external file",
+			cmd:    fmt.Sprintf("template '%s' --include-file external.txt=testdata/external.txt", "testdata/testcharts/configmap"),
+			golden: "output/template-with-external-file.txt",
+		},
 	}
 	runTestCmd(t, tests)
 }
diff --git a/cmd/helm/testdata/external.txt b/cmd/helm/testdata/external.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..306c8fb1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/helm/testdata/external.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+out-of-chart-dir
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cmd/helm/testdata/output/install-with-external-files.txt b/cmd/helm/testdata/output/install-with-external-files.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..406e522a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/helm/testdata/output/install-with-external-files.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+NAME: virgil
+LAST DEPLOYED: Fri Sep  2 22:04:05 1977
+NAMESPACE: default
+STATUS: deployed
+REVISION: 1
+TEST SUITE: None
diff --git a/cmd/helm/testdata/output/template-with-external-file.txt b/cmd/helm/testdata/output/template-with-external-file.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9550768c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/helm/testdata/output/template-with-external-file.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+---
+# Source: configmap/templates/config-map.yaml
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: "RELEASE-NAME-"
+  labels:
+    # The "app.kubernetes.io/managed-by" label is used to track which tool
+    # deployed a given chart. It is useful for admins who want to see what
+    # releases a particular tool is responsible for.
+    app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: "Helm"
+    # The "app.kubernetes.io/instance" convention makes it easy to tie a release
+    # to all of the Kubernetes resources that were created as part of that
+    # release.
+    app.kubernetes.io/instance: "RELEASE-NAME"
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: 1.0
+    # This makes it easy to audit chart usage.
+    helm.sh/chart: "configmap-0.1.0"
+data:
+  external.txt: out-of-chart-dir
diff --git a/cmd/helm/testdata/testcharts/configmap/Chart.yaml b/cmd/helm/testdata/testcharts/configmap/Chart.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0b070f43e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/helm/testdata/testcharts/configmap/Chart.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+appVersion: "1.0"
+description: Deploy a basic Config Map from an external file
+home: https://helm.sh/helm
+name: configmap
+sources:
+- https://github.com/helm/helm
+version: 0.1.0
diff --git a/cmd/helm/testdata/testcharts/configmap/external.txt b/cmd/helm/testdata/testcharts/configmap/external.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a67feea79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/helm/testdata/testcharts/configmap/external.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+in-chart
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cmd/helm/testdata/testcharts/configmap/templates/config-map.yaml b/cmd/helm/testdata/testcharts/configmap/templates/config-map.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d03a9d5a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/helm/testdata/testcharts/configmap/templates/config-map.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: "{{.Release.Name}}-{{.Values.Name}}"
+  labels:
+    # The "app.kubernetes.io/managed-by" label is used to track which tool
+    # deployed a given chart. It is useful for admins who want to see what
+    # releases a particular tool is responsible for.
+    app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: {{.Release.Service | quote }}
+    # The "app.kubernetes.io/instance" convention makes it easy to tie a release
+    # to all of the Kubernetes resources that were created as part of that
+    # release.
+    app.kubernetes.io/instance: {{.Release.Name | quote }}
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: {{ .Chart.AppVersion }}
+    # This makes it easy to audit chart usage.
+    helm.sh/chart: "{{.Chart.Name}}-{{.Chart.Version}}"
+data:
+{{ (.Files.Glob .Values.external).AsConfig | indent 2 }}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cmd/helm/testdata/testcharts/configmap/values.yaml b/cmd/helm/testdata/testcharts/configmap/values.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..338d478d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/helm/testdata/testcharts/configmap/values.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+external: external.txt
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pkg/cli/files/parser_test.go b/pkg/cli/files/parser_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..08e93dd9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/cli/files/parser_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+package files
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestParseIntoString(t *testing.T) {
+	need := require.New(t)
+	is := assert.New(t)
+
+	dest := make(map[string]string)
+	goodFlag := "foo.txt=../foo.txt"
+	anotherFlag := " bar.txt=~/bar.txt, baz.txt=/path/to/baz.txt"
+
+	err := ParseIntoString(goodFlag, dest)
+	need.NoError(err)
+
+	err = ParseIntoString(anotherFlag, dest)
+	need.NoError(err)
+
+	is.Contains(dest, "foo.txt")
+	is.Contains(dest, "bar.txt")
+	is.Contains(dest, "baz.txt")
+
+	is.Equal(dest["foo.txt"], "../foo.txt", "foo.txt not mapped properly")
+	is.Equal(dest["bar.txt"], "~/bar.txt", "bar.txt not mapped properly")
+	is.Equal(dest["baz.txt"], "/path/to/baz.txt", "baz.txt not mapped properly")
+
+	overwriteFlag := "foo.txt=../new_foo.txt"
+	err = ParseIntoString(overwriteFlag, dest)
+	need.NoError(err)
+
+	is.Equal(dest["foo.txt"], "../new_foo.txt")
+
+	badFlag := "empty.txt"
+	err = ParseIntoString(badFlag, dest)
+	is.NotNil(err)
+}