diff --git a/doc/NERDTree.txt b/doc/NERDTree.txt
index f8a1fdc..ffeb3f8 100644
--- a/doc/NERDTree.txt
+++ b/doc/NERDTree.txt
@@ -731,6 +731,9 @@ the NERDTree. These settings should be set in your vimrc, using `:let`.
 |NERDTreeShowLineNumbers|     Tells the NERDTree whether to display line
                             numbers in the tree window.
 
+|NERDTreeShowRelLineNumbers|  Tells the NERDTree whether to display relative
+			    line numbers in the tree window.
+
 |NERDTreeSortOrder|           Tell the NERDTree how to sort the nodes in the
                             tree.
 
@@ -1107,6 +1110,16 @@ window.  Use one of the follow lines for this setting: >
     let NERDTreeShowLineNumbers=0
     let NERDTreeShowLineNumbers=1
 <
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+                                                    *NERDTreeShowRelLineNumbers*
+Values: 0 or 1.
+Default: 0.
+
+This setting tells vim whether to display relative line numbers for the NERDTree
+window.  Use one of the follow lines for this setting: >
+    let NERDTreeShowRelLineNumbers=0
+    let NERDTreeShowRelLineNumbers=1
+<
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              *NERDTreeSortOrder*
 Values: a list of regular expressions.
diff --git a/lib/nerdtree/creator.vim b/lib/nerdtree/creator.vim
index e794e0d..9e86b4f 100644
--- a/lib/nerdtree/creator.vim
+++ b/lib/nerdtree/creator.vim
@@ -344,6 +344,8 @@ function! s:Creator._setCommonBufOptions()
 
     if g:NERDTreeShowLineNumbers
         setlocal number
+    elseif g:NERDTreeShowRelLineNumbers
+        setlocal relativenumber
     else
         setlocal nonumber
         if v:version >= 703
diff --git a/plugin/NERD_tree.vim b/plugin/NERD_tree.vim
index 84c04fd..ee961c5 100644
--- a/plugin/NERD_tree.vim
+++ b/plugin/NERD_tree.vim
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ let g:NERDTreeShowBookmarks         = get(g:, 'NERDTreeShowBookmarks',         0
 let g:NERDTreeShowFiles             = get(g:, 'NERDTreeShowFiles',             1)
 let g:NERDTreeShowHidden            = get(g:, 'NERDTreeShowHidden',            0)
 let g:NERDTreeShowLineNumbers       = get(g:, 'NERDTreeShowLineNumbers',       0)
+let g:NERDTreeShowRelLineNumbers    = get(g:, 'NERDTreeShowRelLineNumbers',    0)
 let g:NERDTreeSortDirs              = get(g:, 'NERDTreeSortDirs',              1)
 let g:NERDTreeFileLines             = get(g:, 'NERDTreeFileLines',             0)