diff --git a/src/main/java/com/smartcodeltd/VersionMojo.java b/src/main/java/com/smartcodeltd/VersionMojo.java
index 1696ab9..11e9658 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/smartcodeltd/VersionMojo.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/smartcodeltd/VersionMojo.java
@@ -1,18 +1,17 @@
 package com.smartcodeltd;
 
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
+import static org.apache.maven.plugins.annotations.LifecyclePhase.PACKAGE;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
 import com.smartcodeltd.domain.Version;
 import com.smartcodeltd.writer.Writer;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.MojoExecutionException;
 import org.apache.maven.plugins.annotations.Mojo;
 import org.apache.maven.plugins.annotations.Parameter;
 
-import java.io.File;
-import java.io.IOException;
-import java.net.URI;
-
-import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
-import static org.apache.maven.plugins.annotations.LifecyclePhase.PACKAGE;
-
 /**
  * Retrieves project version specified in <code>pom.xml</code> and outputs it
  * either to stdout or to a file, depending on <a href="/version-mojo.html">configuration</a>.
@@ -40,7 +39,7 @@ public class VersionMojo
      * </p>
      */
     @Parameter(defaultValue = default_output_uri, required = false, property = "outputUri")
-    private URI outputUri;
+    private String outputUri;
 
     /**
      * <p>
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/smartcodeltd/writer/Writer.java b/src/main/java/com/smartcodeltd/writer/Writer.java
index e2e9e2c..6c340d2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/smartcodeltd/writer/Writer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/smartcodeltd/writer/Writer.java
@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
 package com.smartcodeltd.writer;
 
+import java.io.File;
 import java.lang.reflect.Constructor;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 
 public abstract class Writer {
-    public static Writer from(URI uri, Charset charset) {
+    public static Writer from(String output, Charset charset) {
+
+        URI uri = uri(output);
 
         String className = writerClassNameFrom(uri);
 
@@ -19,6 +22,17 @@ public static Writer from(URI uri, Charset charset) {
         }
     }
 
+    private static URI uri(String output) {
+        File file = new File(output);
+        URI uri;
+        if (file.isAbsolute()) {
+            uri = file.toURI();
+        } else {
+            uri = URI.create(output);
+        }
+        return uri;
+    }
+
     protected final URI uri;
     protected final Charset charset;
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/smartcodeltd/VersionMojoTest.java b/src/test/java/com/smartcodeltd/VersionMojoTest.java
index 4ca909f..ae90057 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/smartcodeltd/VersionMojoTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/smartcodeltd/VersionMojoTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 package com.smartcodeltd;
 
+import static com.smartcodeltd.matchers.EqualsIgnoringOSSpecificLineSeparators.equalsIgnoringOSSpecificLineSeparators;
+import static com.smartcodeltd.sugar.ConfigEntry.configured;
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.is;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertThat;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verifyNoMoreInteractions;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.PrintStream;
+
 import com.smartcodeltd.sugar.ConfigEntry;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.Mojo;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.logging.Log;
@@ -8,16 +19,6 @@
 import org.junit.Rule;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
-import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
-import java.io.PrintStream;
-import java.net.URI;
-
-import static com.smartcodeltd.matchers.EqualsIgnoringOSSpecificLineSeparators.equalsIgnoringOSSpecificLineSeparators;
-import static com.smartcodeltd.sugar.ConfigEntry.configured;
-import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.is;
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertThat;
-import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;
-
 public class VersionMojoTest {
 
     @Rule public final TestProjectResources resource = new TestProjectResources("src/test/resources/projects", "target/projects");
@@ -92,13 +93,32 @@ public void writes_templated_version_to_file() throws Exception {
         ));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void writes_templated_version_to_file_with_outputUri_as_parameter() throws Exception {
+        releaseCandidateVersion = mojo.forProject("out-of-the-box");
+        releaseCandidateVersion.setLog(log);
+
+        String output = resource.baseDirectoryFor("out-of-the-box") + "/project.properties";
+        given(
+                configured("outputUri", output),
+                configured("outputTemplate",
+                        "{{ version }}"
+                ),
+                configured("encoding", "UTF-8")
+        );
+
+        releaseCandidateVersion.execute();
+
+        assertThat(resource.contentOf("out-of-the-box", "project.properties"), is("1.7.2-SNAPSHOT"));
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void trims_leading_whitespace_in_templates() throws Exception {
         releaseCandidateVersion = mojo.forProject("out-of-the-box");
         releaseCandidateVersion.setLog(log);
 
         given(
-            configured("outputUri", URI.create("stdout")),
+            configured("outputUri", "stdout"),
             configured("outputTemplate",
                     "    ##teamcity[setParameter name='env.PROJECT_VERSION' value='{{ version }}']\n" +
                     "    ##teamcity[message text='Project version: {{ version }}']"