diff --git a/core/includes/common.inc b/core/includes/common.inc
index c117d43..68baddb 100644
--- a/core/includes/common.inc
+++ b/core/includes/common.inc
@@ -2197,7 +2197,17 @@ function url_is_external($path) {
   // Avoid calling drupal_strip_dangerous_protocols() if there is any
   // slash (/), hash (#) or question_mark (?) before the colon (:)
   // occurrence - if any - as this would clearly mean it is not a URL.
-  return $colonpos !== FALSE && !preg_match('![/?#]!', substr($path, 0, $colonpos)) && drupal_strip_dangerous_protocols($path) == $path;
+  if ($colonpos !== FALSE && !preg_match('![/?#]!', substr($path, 0, $colonpos)) && drupal_strip_dangerous_protocols($path) == $path) {
+    return TRUE;
+  }
+  //If it begins with a /, then it is considered external to drupal, but local to our domain.
+  //We should ensure that it is not supposed to be a drupal path with an accidental / on the front.
+  else if ((strpos($path, '/') === 0) && !menu_get_item(ltrim($path, '/'))) {
+    return TRUE;
+  }
+  else {
+    return FALSE;
+  }
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/core/includes/menu.inc b/core/includes/menu.inc
index 9412310..cb143f5 100644
--- a/core/includes/menu.inc
+++ b/core/includes/menu.inc
@@ -867,6 +867,9 @@ function _menu_link_translate(&$item, $translate = FALSE) {
     $item['access'] = 1;
     $map = array();
     $item['href'] = $item['link_path'];
+    //external paths beginning with / are local to our domain.
+    //trim the / to ensure it displays correctly.
+    $item['href'] = ltrim($item['href'], '/');
     $item['title'] = $item['link_title'];
     $item['localized_options'] = $item['options'];
   }
diff --git a/core/modules/menu/menu.admin.inc b/core/modules/menu/menu.admin.inc
index f933feb..0b82464 100644
--- a/core/modules/menu/menu.admin.inc
+++ b/core/modules/menu/menu.admin.inc
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ function menu_edit_item($form, &$form_state, $type, $item, $menu) {
       '#title' => t('Path'),
       '#maxlength' => 255,
       '#default_value' => $path,
-      '#description' => t('The path for this menu link. This can be an internal Drupal path such as %add-node or an external URL such as %drupal. Enter %front to link to the front page.', array('%front' => '<front>', '%add-node' => 'node/add', '%drupal' => 'http://drupal.org')),
+      '#description' => t('The path for this menu link. This can be an internal Drupal path such as %add-node or an external URL such as %drupal. Enter %front to link to the front page. To link to a URL local to your domain, but external to drupal, precede the path with a /, such as %local_path.', array('%front' => '<front>', '%add-node' => 'node/add', '%drupal' => 'http://drupal.org', '%local_path' => '/myfile.html')),
       '#required' => TRUE,
     );
     $form['actions']['delete'] = array(