diff --git a/src/all_types.hpp b/src/all_types.hpp
index c6e0dc3d17..ee71a0ec28 100644
--- a/src/all_types.hpp
+++ b/src/all_types.hpp
@@ -1088,6 +1088,7 @@ enum BuiltinFnId {
     BuiltinFnIdCImport,
     BuiltinFnIdErrName,
     BuiltinFnIdBreakpoint,
+    BuiltinFnIdEmbedFile,
 };
 
 struct BuiltinFnEntry {
diff --git a/src/analyze.cpp b/src/analyze.cpp
index 244bdc5fc6..38835a0d86 100644
--- a/src/analyze.cpp
+++ b/src/analyze.cpp
@@ -4101,6 +4101,45 @@ static TypeTableEntry *analyze_err_name(CodeGen *g, ImportTableEntry *import,
     return str_type;
 }
 
+static TypeTableEntry *analyze_embed_file(CodeGen *g, ImportTableEntry *import,
+        BlockContext *context, AstNode *node)
+{
+    assert(node->type == NodeTypeFnCallExpr);
+
+    AstNode **first_param_node = &node->data.fn_call_expr.params.at(0);
+    Buf *rel_file_path = resolve_const_expr_str(g, import, context, first_param_node);
+    if (!rel_file_path) {
+        return g->builtin_types.entry_invalid;
+    }
+
+    // figure out absolute path to resource
+    Buf source_dir_path = BUF_INIT;
+    os_path_dirname(import->path, &source_dir_path);
+
+    Buf file_path = BUF_INIT;
+    os_path_resolve(&source_dir_path, rel_file_path, &file_path);
+
+    // load from file system into const expr
+    Buf file_contents = BUF_INIT;
+    int err;
+    if ((err = os_fetch_file_path(&file_path, &file_contents))) {
+        if (err == ErrorFileNotFound) {
+            add_node_error(g, node,
+                    buf_sprintf("unable to find '%s'", buf_ptr(&file_path)));
+            return g->builtin_types.entry_invalid;
+        } else {
+            add_node_error(g, node,
+                    buf_sprintf("unable to open '%s': %s", buf_ptr(&file_path), err_str(err)));
+            return g->builtin_types.entry_invalid;
+        }
+    }
+
+    // TODO add dependency on the file we embedded so that we know if it changes
+    // we'll have to invalidate the cache
+
+    return resolve_expr_const_val_as_string_lit(g, node, &file_contents);
+}
+
 static TypeTableEntry *analyze_builtin_fn_call_expr(CodeGen *g, ImportTableEntry *import, BlockContext *context,
         TypeTableEntry *expected_type, AstNode *node)
 {
@@ -4434,6 +4473,8 @@ static TypeTableEntry *analyze_builtin_fn_call_expr(CodeGen *g, ImportTableEntry
         case BuiltinFnIdBreakpoint:
             mark_impure_fn(context);
             return g->builtin_types.entry_void;
+        case BuiltinFnIdEmbedFile:
+            return analyze_embed_file(g, import, context, node);
     }
     zig_unreachable();
 }
diff --git a/src/codegen.cpp b/src/codegen.cpp
index ddac9b72e0..0f2a63d3fc 100644
--- a/src/codegen.cpp
+++ b/src/codegen.cpp
@@ -507,6 +507,7 @@ static LLVMValueRef gen_builtin_fn_call_expr(CodeGen *g, AstNode *node) {
         case BuiltinFnIdMaxValue:
         case BuiltinFnIdMemberCount:
         case BuiltinFnIdConstEval:
+        case BuiltinFnIdEmbedFile:
             // caught by constant expression eval codegen
             zig_unreachable();
         case BuiltinFnIdCompileVar:
@@ -3896,6 +3897,7 @@ static void define_builtin_fns(CodeGen *g) {
     create_builtin_fn_with_arg_count(g, BuiltinFnIdImport, "import", 1);
     create_builtin_fn_with_arg_count(g, BuiltinFnIdCImport, "c_import", 1);
     create_builtin_fn_with_arg_count(g, BuiltinFnIdErrName, "err_name", 1);
+    create_builtin_fn_with_arg_count(g, BuiltinFnIdEmbedFile, "embed_file", 1);
 }
 
 static void init(CodeGen *g, Buf *source_path) {
diff --git a/src/eval.cpp b/src/eval.cpp
index b3120118c6..1f2a05a247 100644
--- a/src/eval.cpp
+++ b/src/eval.cpp
@@ -696,6 +696,7 @@ static bool eval_fn_call_builtin(EvalFn *ef, AstNode *node, ConstExprValue *out_
         case BuiltinFnIdImport:
         case BuiltinFnIdCImport:
         case BuiltinFnIdErrName:
+        case BuiltinFnIdEmbedFile:
             zig_panic("TODO");
         case BuiltinFnIdBreakpoint:
         case BuiltinFnIdInvalid:
diff --git a/src/os.cpp b/src/os.cpp
index 73483a5e81..4b5d898aa7 100644
--- a/src/os.cpp
+++ b/src/os.cpp
@@ -91,6 +91,10 @@ void os_spawn_process(const char *exe, ZigList<const char *> &args, int *return_
 #endif
 }
 
+void os_path_dirname(Buf *full_path, Buf *out_dirname) {
+    return os_path_split(full_path, out_dirname, nullptr);
+}
+
 void os_path_split(Buf *full_path, Buf *out_dirname, Buf *out_basename) {
     int last_index = buf_len(full_path) - 1;
     if (last_index >= 0 && buf_ptr(full_path)[last_index] == '/') {
@@ -99,13 +103,17 @@ void os_path_split(Buf *full_path, Buf *out_dirname, Buf *out_basename) {
     for (int i = last_index; i >= 0; i -= 1) {
         uint8_t c = buf_ptr(full_path)[i];
         if (c == '/') {
-            buf_init_from_mem(out_dirname, buf_ptr(full_path), i);
-            buf_init_from_mem(out_basename, buf_ptr(full_path) + i + 1, buf_len(full_path) - (i + 1));
+            if (out_dirname) {
+                buf_init_from_mem(out_dirname, buf_ptr(full_path), i);
+            }
+            if (out_basename) {
+                buf_init_from_mem(out_basename, buf_ptr(full_path) + i + 1, buf_len(full_path) - (i + 1));
+            }
             return;
         }
     }
-    buf_init_from_mem(out_dirname, ".", 1);
-    buf_init_from_buf(out_basename, full_path);
+    if (out_dirname) buf_init_from_mem(out_dirname, ".", 1);
+    if (out_basename) buf_init_from_buf(out_basename, full_path);
 }
 
 void os_path_join(Buf *dirname, Buf *basename, Buf *out_full_path) {
@@ -146,6 +154,26 @@ int os_path_real(Buf *rel_path, Buf *out_abs_path) {
 #endif
 }
 
+bool os_path_is_absolute(Buf *path) {
+#if defined(ZIG_OS_WINDOWS)
+#error "missing os_path_is_absolute implementation"
+#elif defined(ZIG_OS_POSIX)
+    return buf_ptr(path)[0] == '/';
+#else
+#error "missing os_path_is_absolute implementation"
+#endif
+}
+
+void os_path_resolve(Buf *ref_path, Buf *target_path, Buf *out_abs_path) {
+    if (os_path_is_absolute(target_path)) {
+        buf_init_from_buf(out_abs_path, target_path);
+        return;
+    }
+
+    os_path_join(ref_path, target_path, out_abs_path);
+    return;
+}
+
 int os_fetch_file(FILE *f, Buf *out_buf) {
     static const ssize_t buf_size = 0x2000;
     buf_resize(out_buf, buf_size);
diff --git a/src/os.hpp b/src/os.hpp
index ae43f8fe91..f545170138 100644
--- a/src/os.hpp
+++ b/src/os.hpp
@@ -18,9 +18,12 @@ void os_spawn_process(const char *exe, ZigList<const char *> &args, int *return_
 int os_exec_process(const char *exe, ZigList<const char *> &args,
         int *return_code, Buf *out_stderr, Buf *out_stdout);
 
+void os_path_dirname(Buf *full_path, Buf *out_dirname);
 void os_path_split(Buf *full_path, Buf *out_dirname, Buf *out_basename);
 void os_path_join(Buf *dirname, Buf *basename, Buf *out_full_path);
 int os_path_real(Buf *rel_path, Buf *out_abs_path);
+void os_path_resolve(Buf *ref_path, Buf *target_path, Buf *out_abs_path);
+bool os_path_is_absolute(Buf *path);
 
 void os_write_file(Buf *full_path, Buf *contents);
 
diff --git a/test/run_tests.cpp b/test/run_tests.cpp
index 7b5b90e4ae..fdc03b0ae0 100644
--- a/test/run_tests.cpp
+++ b/test/run_tests.cpp
@@ -600,6 +600,20 @@ fn do_test() -> %void {
 }
 fn its_gonna_pass() -> %void { }
     )SOURCE", "before\nafter\ndefer3\ndefer1\n");
+
+
+    {
+        TestCase *tc = add_simple_case("@embed_file", R"SOURCE(
+const foo_txt = @embed_file("foo.txt");
+const io = @import("std").io;
+
+pub fn main(args: [][]u8) -> %void {
+    %%io.stdout.printf(foo_txt);
+}
+        )SOURCE", "1234\nabcd\n");
+
+        add_source_file(tc, "foo.txt", "1234\nabcd\n");
+    }
 }
 
 
@@ -1173,6 +1187,10 @@ fn fibbonaci(x: i32) -> i32 {
             ".tmp_source.zig:3:1: error: function evaluation exceeded 1000 branches",
             ".tmp_source.zig:2:37: note: called from here",
             ".tmp_source.zig:4:40: note: quota exceeded here");
+
+    add_compile_fail_case("@embed_file with bogus file", R"SOURCE(
+const resource = @embed_file("bogus.txt");
+    )SOURCE", 1, ".tmp_source.zig:2:18: error: unable to find './bogus.txt'");
 }
 
 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////