diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 517466f3d1a..a9b71fec133 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ GEM
     html-pipeline (1.11.0)
       activesupport (>= 2)
       nokogiri (~> 1.4)
-    html-pipeline-gitlab (0.1.4)
+    html-pipeline-gitlab (0.1.5)
       actionpack (~> 4)
       gitlab_emoji (~> 0.0.1)
       html-pipeline (~> 1.11.0)
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/markdown.rb b/lib/gitlab/markdown.rb
index d3e9bafb06c..ddcce7557a0 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/markdown.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/markdown.rb
@@ -78,9 +78,14 @@ module Gitlab
         HTML::Pipeline::Gitlab::GitlabEmojiFilter
       ]
 
+      markdown_context = {
+              asset_root: Gitlab.config.gitlab.url,
+              asset_host: Gitlab::Application.config.asset_host
+      }
+
       markdown_pipeline = HTML::Pipeline::Gitlab.new(filters).pipeline
 
-      result = markdown_pipeline.call(text)
+      result = markdown_pipeline.call(text, markdown_context)
       text = result[:output].to_html(save_with: 0)
 
       allowed_attributes = ActionView::Base.sanitized_allowed_attributes
diff --git a/spec/helpers/gitlab_markdown_helper_spec.rb b/spec/helpers/gitlab_markdown_helper_spec.rb
index 15033f07432..26908abc30a 100644
--- a/spec/helpers/gitlab_markdown_helper_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/helpers/gitlab_markdown_helper_spec.rb
@@ -576,9 +576,21 @@ describe GitlabMarkdownHelper do
     end
 
     it "should generate absolute urls for emoji" do
-      markdown(":smile:").should include("src=\"#{url_helper('emoji/smile')}")
+      markdown(":smile:").should include("src=\"http://localhost/assets/emoji/smile.png")
     end
 
+    it "should generate absolute urls for emoji if relative url is present" do
+      Gitlab.config.gitlab.stub(:url).and_return('http://localhost/gitlab/root')
+      markdown(":smile:").should include("src=\"http://localhost/gitlab/root/assets/emoji/smile.png")
+    end
+
+    it "should generate absolute urls for emoji if asset_host is present" do
+      Gitlab::Application.config.stub(:asset_host).and_return("https://cdn.example.com")
+      ActionView::Base.any_instance.stub_chain(:config, :asset_host).and_return("https://cdn.example.com")
+      markdown(":smile:").should include("src=\"https://cdn.example.com/assets/emoji/smile.png")
+    end
+
+
     it "should handle relative urls for a file in master" do
       actual = "[GitLab API doc](doc/api/README.md)\n"
       expected = "<p><a href=\"/#{project.path_with_namespace}/blob/#{@ref}/doc/api/README.md\">GitLab API doc</a></p>\n"