diff --git a/Lib/fontTools/feaLib/lexer.py b/Lib/fontTools/feaLib/lexer.py
index 5cdd1ba97..18849ef07 100644
--- a/Lib/fontTools/feaLib/lexer.py
+++ b/Lib/fontTools/feaLib/lexer.py
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ class Lexer(object):
 
     def location_(self):
         column = self.pos_ - self.line_start_ + 1
-        return (self.filename_, self.line_, column)
+        return (self.filename_ or "<features>", self.line_, column)
 
     def next_(self):
         self.scan_over_(Lexer.CHAR_WHITESPACE_)
@@ -211,33 +211,42 @@ class IncludingLexer(object):
                 #semi_type, semi_token, semi_location = lexer.next()
                 #if semi_type is not Lexer.SYMBOL or semi_token != ";":
                 #    raise FeatureLibError("Expected ';'", semi_location)
-                curpath = os.path.dirname(self.featurefilepath)
-                path = os.path.join(curpath, fname_token)
+                if os.path.isabs(fname_token):
+                    path = fname_token
+                else:
+                    if self.featurefilepath is not None:
+                        curpath = os.path.dirname(self.featurefilepath)
+                    else:
+                        # if the IncludingLexer was initialized from an in-memory
+                        # file-like stream, it doesn't have a 'name' pointing to
+                        # its filesystem path, therefore we fall back to using the
+                        # current working directory to resolve relative includes
+                        curpath = os.getcwd()
+                    path = os.path.join(curpath, fname_token)
                 if len(self.lexers_) >= 5:
                     raise FeatureLibError("Too many recursive includes",
                                           fname_location)
-                self.lexers_.append(self.make_lexer_(path, fname_location))
-                continue
+                try:
+                    self.lexers_.append(self.make_lexer_(path))
+                except IOError as err:
+                    # FileNotFoundError does not exist on Python < 3.3
+                    import errno
+                    if err.errno == errno.ENOENT:
+                        raise IncludedFeaNotFound(fname_token, fname_location)
+                    raise  # pragma: no cover
             else:
                 return (token_type, token, location)
         raise StopIteration()
 
     @staticmethod
-    def make_lexer_(file_or_path, location=None):
+    def make_lexer_(file_or_path):
         if hasattr(file_or_path, "read"):
             fileobj, closing = file_or_path, False
         else:
             filename, closing = file_or_path, True
-            try:
-                fileobj = open(filename, "r", encoding="utf-8")
-            except IOError as err:
-                # FileNotFoundError does not exist on Python < 3.3
-                import errno
-                if err.errno == errno.ENOENT:
-                    raise IncludedFeaNotFound(str(err), location)
-                raise  # pragma: no cover
+            fileobj = open(filename, "r", encoding="utf-8")
         data = fileobj.read()
-        filename = fileobj.name if hasattr(fileobj, "name") else "<features>"
+        filename = getattr(fileobj, "name", None)
         if closing:
             fileobj.close()
         return Lexer(data, filename)
diff --git a/Tests/feaLib/lexer_test.py b/Tests/feaLib/lexer_test.py
index 9170d5577..a42b82064 100644
--- a/Tests/feaLib/lexer_test.py
+++ b/Tests/feaLib/lexer_test.py
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 from __future__ import print_function, division, absolute_import
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
+from fontTools.misc.py23 import *
 from fontTools.feaLib.error import FeatureLibError, IncludedFeaNotFound
 from fontTools.feaLib.lexer import IncludingLexer, Lexer
 import os
+import shutil
+import tempfile
 import unittest
 
 
@@ -174,7 +177,58 @@ class IncludingLexerTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_include_missing_file(self):
         lexer = IncludingLexer(self.getpath("include/includemissingfile.fea"))
-        self.assertRaises(IncludedFeaNotFound, lambda: list(lexer))
+        self.assertRaisesRegex(IncludedFeaNotFound,
+                               "includemissingfile.fea:1:8: missingfile.fea",
+                               lambda: list(lexer))
+
+    def test_featurefilepath_None(self):
+        lexer = IncludingLexer(UnicodeIO("# foobar"))
+        self.assertIsNone(lexer.featurefilepath)
+        files = set(loc[0] for _, _, loc in lexer)
+        self.assertIn("<features>", files)
+
+    def test_include_absolute_path(self):
+        with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(delete=False) as included:
+            included.write(tobytes("""
+                feature kern {
+                    pos A B -40;
+                } kern;
+                """, encoding="utf-8"))
+        including = UnicodeIO("include(%s);" % included.name)
+        try:
+            lexer = IncludingLexer(including)
+            files = set(loc[0] for _, _, loc in lexer)
+            self.assertIn(included.name, files)
+        finally:
+            os.remove(included.name)
+
+    def test_include_relative_to_cwd(self):
+        # save current working directory, to be restored later
+        cwd = os.getcwd()
+        tmpdir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
+        try:
+            # create new feature file in a temporary directory
+            with open(os.path.join(tmpdir, "included.fea"), "w",
+                      encoding="utf-8") as included:
+                included.write("""
+                    feature kern {
+                        pos A B -40;
+                    } kern;
+                    """)
+            # change current folder to the temporary dir
+            os.chdir(tmpdir)
+            # instantiate a new lexer that includes the above file
+            # using a relative path; the IncludingLexer does not
+            # itself have a path, because it was initialized from
+            # an in-memory stream, so it will use the current working
+            # directory to resolve relative include statements
+            lexer = IncludingLexer(UnicodeIO("include(included.fea);"))
+            files = set(loc[0] for _, _, loc in lexer)
+            self.assertIn(included.name, files)
+        finally:
+            # remove temporary folder and restore previous working directory
+            os.chdir(cwd)
+            shutil.rmtree(tmpdir)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":