diff --git a/mercurial/debugcommands.py b/mercurial/debugcommands.py
--- a/mercurial/debugcommands.py
+++ b/mercurial/debugcommands.py
@@ -866,7 +866,8 @@ def debugignore(ui, repo, *files, **opts
         # Show all the patterns
         ui.write("%s\n" % repr(ignore))
     else:
-        for f in files:
+        m = scmutil.match(repo[None], pats=files)
+        for f in m.files():
             nf = util.normpath(f)
             ignored = None
             ignoredata = None
@@ -882,16 +883,16 @@ def debugignore(ui, repo, *files, **opts
                             break
             if ignored:
                 if ignored == nf:
-                    ui.write(_("%s is ignored\n") % f)
+                    ui.write(_("%s is ignored\n") % m.uipath(f))
                 else:
                     ui.write(_("%s is ignored because of "
                                "containing folder %s\n")
-                             % (f, ignored))
+                             % (m.uipath(f), ignored))
                 ignorefile, lineno, line = ignoredata
                 ui.write(_("(ignore rule in %s, line %d: '%s')\n")
                          % (ignorefile, lineno, line))
             else:
-                ui.write(_("%s is not ignored\n") % f)
+                ui.write(_("%s is not ignored\n") % m.uipath(f))
 
 @command('debugindex', cmdutil.debugrevlogopts +
     [('f', 'format', 0, _('revlog format'), _('FORMAT'))],
diff --git a/tests/test-hgignore.t b/tests/test-hgignore.t
--- a/tests/test-hgignore.t
+++ b/tests/test-hgignore.t
@@ -52,6 +52,35 @@ Should display baz only:
   abort: $TESTTMP/ignorerepo/.hgignore: invalid pattern (relre): *.o (glob)
   [255]
 
+Ensure given files are relative to cwd
+
+  $ echo "dir/.*\.o" > .hgignore
+  $ hg status -i
+  I dir/c.o
+
+  $ hg debugignore dir/c.o dir/missing.o
+  dir/c.o is ignored (glob)
+  (ignore rule in $TESTTMP/ignorerepo/.hgignore, line 1: 'dir/.*\.o') (glob)
+  dir/missing.o is ignored (glob)
+  (ignore rule in $TESTTMP/ignorerepo/.hgignore, line 1: 'dir/.*\.o') (glob)
+  $ cd dir
+  $ hg debugignore c.o missing.o
+  c.o is ignored
+  (ignore rule in $TESTTMP/ignorerepo/.hgignore, line 1: 'dir/.*\.o') (glob)
+  missing.o is ignored
+  (ignore rule in $TESTTMP/ignorerepo/.hgignore, line 1: 'dir/.*\.o') (glob)
+
+For icasefs, inexact matches also work, except for missing files
+
+#if icasefs
+  $ hg debugignore c.O missing.O
+  c.o is ignored
+  (ignore rule in $TESTTMP/ignorerepo/.hgignore, line 1: 'dir/.*\.o') (glob)
+  missing.O is not ignored
+#endif
+
+  $ cd ..
+
   $ echo ".*\.o" > .hgignore
   $ hg status
   A dir/b.o
@@ -207,7 +236,7 @@ Check recursive glob pattern matches no 
   $ hg debugignore a.c
   a.c is not ignored
   $ hg debugignore dir/c.o
-  dir/c.o is ignored
+  dir/c.o is ignored (glob)
   (ignore rule in $TESTTMP/ignorerepo/.hgignore, line 2: 'dir/**/c.o') (glob)
 
 Check using 'include:' in ignore file
@@ -293,7 +322,7 @@ Check include subignore at the same leve
   $ hg status | grep file2
   [1]
   $ hg debugignore dir1/file2
-  dir1/file2 is ignored
+  dir1/file2 is ignored (glob)
   (ignore rule in dir2/.hgignore, line 1: 'file*2')
 
 #if windows