diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/command/tables.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/command/tables.scala
index 871eba49dfbd0..823dc0d5ed387 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/command/tables.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/command/tables.scala
@@ -376,7 +376,8 @@ object LoadDataCommand {
    * @return qualified path object
    */
   private[sql] def makeQualified(defaultUri: URI, workingDir: Path, path: Path): Path = {
-    val pathUri = if (path.isAbsolute()) path.toUri() else new Path(workingDir, path).toUri()
+    val newPath = new Path(workingDir, path)
+    val pathUri = if (path.isAbsolute()) path.toUri() else newPath.toUri()
     if (pathUri.getScheme == null || pathUri.getAuthority == null &&
         defaultUri.getAuthority != null) {
       val scheme = if (pathUri.getScheme == null) defaultUri.getScheme else pathUri.getScheme
@@ -393,7 +394,7 @@ object LoadDataCommand {
           throw new IllegalArgumentException(e)
       }
     } else {
-      path
+      newPath
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/HiveCommandSuite.scala b/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/HiveCommandSuite.scala
index 6937e97a47dc6..9147a98c94457 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/HiveCommandSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/HiveCommandSuite.scala
@@ -20,11 +20,13 @@ package org.apache.spark.sql.hive.execution
 import java.io.File
 
 import com.google.common.io.Files
+import org.apache.hadoop.fs.{FileContext, FsConstants, Path}
 
 import org.apache.spark.sql.{AnalysisException, QueryTest, Row, SaveMode}
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.TableIdentifier
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.analysis.NoSuchTableException
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.catalog.{CatalogStorageFormat, CatalogTable, CatalogTableType}
+import org.apache.spark.sql.execution.command.LoadDataCommand
 import org.apache.spark.sql.hive.test.TestHiveSingleton
 import org.apache.spark.sql.test.SQLTestUtils
 import org.apache.spark.sql.types.StructType
@@ -439,4 +441,11 @@ class HiveCommandSuite extends QueryTest with SQLTestUtils with TestHiveSingleto
     }
   }
 
+  test("SPARK-25918: LOAD DATA LOCAL INPATH should handle a relative path") {
+    val localFS = FileContext.getLocalFSFileContext()
+    val workingDir = localFS.getWorkingDirectory
+    val r = LoadDataCommand.makeQualified(
+      FsConstants.LOCAL_FS_URI, workingDir, new Path("kv1.txt"))
+    assert(r === new Path(s"$workingDir/kv1.txt"))
+  }
 }