diff --git a/src/node/utils/AbsolutePaths.js b/src/node/utils/AbsolutePaths.js
index 2736599b6..3a7e60f0d 100644
--- a/src/node/utils/AbsolutePaths.js
+++ b/src/node/utils/AbsolutePaths.js
@@ -19,10 +19,17 @@
  */
 
 var log4js = require('log4js');
+var path = require('path');
 var _ = require('underscore');
 
 var absPathLogger = log4js.getLogger('AbsolutePaths');
 
+/*
+ * findEtherpadRoot() computes its value only on first invocation.
+ * Subsequent invocations are served from this variable.
+ */
+var etherpadRoot = null;
+
 /**
  * If stringArray's last elements are exactly equal to lastDesiredElements,
  * returns a copy in which those last elements are popped, or false otherwise.
@@ -49,3 +56,61 @@ var popIfEndsWith = function(stringArray, lastDesiredElements) {
   absPathLogger.debug(`${stringArray.join(path.sep)} does not end with "${lastDesiredElements.join(path.sep)}"`);
   return false;
 };
+
+/**
+ * Heuristically computes the directory in which Etherpad is installed.
+ *
+ * All the relative paths have to be interpreted against this absolute base
+ * path. Since the Unix and Windows install have a different layout on disk,
+ * they are treated as two special cases.
+ *
+ * The path is computed only on first invocation. Subsequent invocations return
+ * a cached value.
+ *
+ * The cached value is stored in AbsolutePaths.etherpadRoot via a side effect.
+ *
+ * @return {string} The identified absolute base path. If such path cannot be
+ *                  identified, prints a log and exits the application.
+ */
+exports.findEtherpadRoot = function() {
+  if (etherpadRoot !== null) {
+    return etherpadRoot;
+  }
+
+  const findRoot = require('find-root');
+  const foundRoot = findRoot(__dirname);
+
+  var directoriesToStrip;
+  if (process.platform === 'win32') {
+    /*
+     * Given the structure of our Windows package, foundRoot's value
+     * will be the following on win32:
+     *
+     *   <BASE_DIR>\node_modules\ep_etherpad-lite
+     */
+    directoriesToStrip = ['node_modules', 'ep_etherpad-lite'];
+  } else {
+    /*
+     * On Unix platforms, foundRoot's value will be:
+     *
+     *   <BASE_DIR>\src
+     */
+    directoriesToStrip = ['src'];
+  }
+
+  const maybeEtherpadRoot = popIfEndsWith(foundRoot.split(path.sep), directoriesToStrip);
+  if (maybeEtherpadRoot === false) {
+    absPathLogger.error(`Could not identity Etherpad base path in this ${process.platform} installation in "${foundRoot}"`);
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+
+  //  SIDE EFFECT on this module-level variable
+  etherpadRoot = maybeEtherpadRoot.join(path.sep);
+
+  if (path.isAbsolute(etherpadRoot)) {
+    return etherpadRoot;
+  }
+
+  absPathLogger.error(`To run, Etherpad has to identify an absolute base path. This is not: "${etherpadRoot}"`);
+  process.exit(1);
+};
diff --git a/src/package.json b/src/package.json
index b6df2acb3..bbb069201 100644
--- a/src/package.json
+++ b/src/package.json
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
     "etherpad-yajsml": "0.0.2",
     "express": "4.16.3",
     "express-session": "1.15.6",
+    "find-root": "1.1.0",
     "formidable": "1.2.1",
     "graceful-fs": "4.1.3",
     "jsonminify": "0.4.1",