diff --git a/src/pyproject_api/__main__.py b/src/pyproject_api/__main__.py
index 7e10879..2f4ef7b 100644
--- a/src/pyproject_api/__main__.py
+++ b/src/pyproject_api/__main__.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ def main(argv: list[str]) -> None:  # ruff:ignore[undocumented-public-function]
     parser = main_parser()
     args = parser.parse_args(argv)
 
-    outdir = args.outdir or args.srcdir / "dist"
+    outdir = (args.outdir or args.srcdir / "dist").absolute()
     # we intentionally do not build editable distributions by default
     distributions = args.distributions or ["sdist", "wheel"]
 
diff --git a/tests/test_main.py b/tests/test_main.py
index 4d820b3..8363769 100644
--- a/tests/test_main.py
+++ b/tests/test_main.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from pathlib import Path
+from shutil import copytree
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 import pytest
@@ -12,6 +13,37 @@
     import pytest_mock
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("distribution", "filename"),
+    [
+        pytest.param("--sdist", "demo_pkg_inline-1.0.0.tar.gz", id="sdist"),
+        pytest.param("--wheel", "demo_pkg_inline-1.0.0-py3-none-any.whl", id="wheel"),
+        pytest.param("--editable", "demo_pkg_inline-1.0.0-py3-none-any.whl", id="editable"),
+    ],
+)
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("outdir_args", "outdir"),
+    [
+        pytest.param([], "project/dist", id="default-outdir"),
+        pytest.param(["--outdir", "artifacts"], "artifacts", id="relative-outdir"),
+    ],
+)
+def test_cli_build_relative_to_caller(
+    tmp_path: Path,
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+    distribution: str,
+    filename: str,
+    outdir_args: list[str],
+    outdir: str,
+) -> None:
+    copytree(Path(__file__).parent / "demo_pkg_inline", tmp_path / "project")
+    monkeypatch.chdir(tmp_path)
+
+    pyproject_api.__main__.main(["project", distribution, *outdir_args])
+
+    assert (tmp_path / outdir / filename).is_file()
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     ("cli_args", "srcdir", "outdir", "hooks"),
     [
@@ -24,13 +56,13 @@
         (
             ["src"],
             Path("src"),
-            Path("src") / "dist",
+            Path("src").absolute() / "dist",
             ["build_sdist", "build_wheel"],
         ),
         (
             ["-o", "out"],
             Path.cwd(),
-            Path("out"),
+            Path("out").absolute(),
             ["build_sdist", "build_wheel"],
         ),
         (