diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1f562f31a..8d0f81956 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -73,9 +73,26 @@ To set options and keep lint-staged extensible, advanced format can be used. Thi
 ## Options
 
 * `linters` — `Object` — keys (`String`) are glob patterns, values (`Array<String> | String`) are commands to execute.
-* `gitDir` — Sets the relative path to the `.git` root. Useful when your `package.json` is located in a sub-directory. See [working from a subdirectory](#working-from-a-subdirectory)
+* `gitDir` — Sets the relative path to the `.git` root. Useful when your `package.json` is located in a sub-directory. See [working from a sub-directory](#working-from-a-sub-directory)
 * `concurrent` — *true* — runs linters for each glob pattern simultaneously. If you don’t want this, you can set `concurrent: false`
 
+## Filtering files
+
+It is possible to run linters for certain paths only by using [minimatch](https://github.com/isaacs/minimatch) patterns. The paths used for filtering via minimatch are relative to the directory that contains the `.git` directory. The paths passed to the linters are absolute to avoid confusion in case they're executed with a different working directory, as would be the case when using the `gitDir` option.
+
+```js
+{
+	// .js files anywhere in the project
+	"*.js": "eslint",
+	// .js files anywhere in the project
+	"**/*.js": "eslint",
+	// .js file in the src directory
+	"src/*.js": "eslint",
+	// .js file anywhere within and below the src directory
+	"src/**/*.js": "eslint",
+}
+```
+
 ## What commands are supported?
 
 Supported are both local npm scripts (`npm run-script`), or any executables installed locally or globally via `npm` as well as any executable from your $PATH.
@@ -106,9 +123,9 @@ Tools like ESLint or stylefmt can re-format your code according to an appropriat
 
 Starting from v3.1, lint-staged will stash you remaining changes (not added to the index) and restore them from stash afterwards. This allows you to create partial commits with hunks using `git add --patch`.
 
-## Working from a subdirectory
+## Working from a sub-directory
 
-If your `package.json` is located in a subdirectory of the git root directory, you can use `gitDir` relative path to point there in order to make lint-staged work. 
+If your `package.json` is located in a sub-directory of the git root directory, you can use `gitDir` relative path to point there in order to make lint-staged work.
 
 ```json
 {
diff --git a/src/generateTasks.js b/src/generateTasks.js
index 5bb0befaf..8c2da3c72 100644
--- a/src/generateTasks.js
+++ b/src/generateTasks.js
@@ -2,17 +2,17 @@
 
 const minimatch = require('minimatch')
 
-module.exports = function generateTasks(config, filePaths) {
+module.exports = function generateTasks(config, files) {
     const linters = config.linters !== undefined ? config.linters : config
+    const resolve = file => files[file]
     return Object.keys(linters)
         .map((pattern) => {
             const commands = linters[pattern]
-            const fileList = filePaths.filter(
-                minimatch.filter(pattern, {
-                    matchBase: true,
-                    dot: true
-                })
-            )
+            const filter = minimatch.filter(pattern, {
+                matchBase: true,
+                dot: true
+            })
+            const fileList = Object.keys(files).filter(filter).map(resolve)
             if (fileList.length) {
                 return {
                     pattern,
diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index 57565f14c..8457dceae 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ const cosmiconfig = require('cosmiconfig')
 
 const packageJson = require(appRoot.resolve('package.json')) // eslint-disable-line
 const runScript = require('./runScript')
-const resolvePaths = require('./resolvePaths')
 const generateTasks = require('./generateTasks')
 
 // Force colors for packages that depend on https://www.npmjs.com/package/supports-color
@@ -30,18 +29,21 @@ cosmiconfig('lint-staged', {
         const config = result.config
         const concurrent = config.concurrent || true
         const gitDir = config.gitDir ? path.resolve(config.gitDir) : process.cwd()
-
-        // If gitDir is defined -> set git root as sgf's cwd
-        if (gitDir !== process.cwd()) {
-            sgf.cwd = gitDir
-        }
+        sgf.cwd = gitDir
 
         sgf('ACM', (err, files) => {
             if (err) {
                 console.error(err)
             }
 
-            const tasks = generateTasks(config, resolvePaths(files, gitDir))
+            const resolvedFiles = {}
+            files.forEach((file) => {
+                const absolute = path.resolve(gitDir, file.filename)
+                const relative = path.relative(gitDir, absolute)
+                resolvedFiles[relative] = absolute
+            })
+
+            const tasks = generateTasks(config, resolvedFiles)
                 .map(task => ({
                     title: `Running tasks for ${ task.pattern }`,
                     task: () => (
@@ -68,4 +70,3 @@ ${ parsingError }
 `)
         process.exit(1)
     })
-
diff --git a/src/resolvePaths.js b/src/resolvePaths.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 84951ad05..000000000
--- a/src/resolvePaths.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-'use strict'
-
-const path = require('path')
-
-module.exports = function resolvePaths(filePaths, relativeTo) {
-    const cwd = process.cwd()
-    const base = relativeTo || cwd
-    return filePaths.map(file => path.relative(cwd, path.resolve(base, file.filename)))
-}
diff --git a/test/generateTasks.spec.js b/test/generateTasks.spec.js
index 0bff51792..27f58985e 100644
--- a/test/generateTasks.spec.js
+++ b/test/generateTasks.spec.js
@@ -1,68 +1,124 @@
 import expect from 'expect'
 import generateTasks from '../src/generateTasks'
 
-const simpleConfig = {
-    '*.css': 'stylelint'
-}
-const nestedConfig = {
-    gitDir: '../',
-    linters: {
-        '*.js': ['eslint --fix', 'git add'],
-        '*.css': 'stylelint'
-    }
+const files = {
+    'test.js': '/root/test.js',
+    'deeper/test.js': '/root/deeper/test.js',
+    'deeper/test2.js': '/root/deeper/test2.js',
+    'even/deeper/test.js': '/root/even/deeper/test.js',
+    '.hidden/test.js': '/root/.hidden/test.js',
+
+    'test.css': '/root/test.css',
+    'deeper/test.css': '/root/deeper/test.css',
+    'deeper/test2.css': '/root/deeper/test2.css',
+    'even/deeper/test.css': '/root/even/deeper/test.css',
+    '.hidden/test.css': '/root/.hidden/test.css',
+
+    'test.txt': '/root/test.txt',
+    'deeper/test.txt': '/root/deeper/test.txt',
+    'deeper/test2.txt': '/root/deeper/test2.txt',
+    'even/deeper/test.txt': '/root/even/deeper/test.txt',
+    '.hidden/test.txt': '/root/.hidden/test.txt'
 }
 
-const files = ['test.js', 'src/.hidden/test2.js', '/.storybook/test.css', '.storybook/test.css', '/absolute/path/test.txt']
+const linters = {
+    '*.js': 'root-js',
+    '**/*.js': 'any-js',
+    'deeper/*.js': 'deeper-js',
+    '.hidden/*.js': 'hidden-js',
+    'unknown/*.js': 'unknown-js',
+    '*.{css,js}': 'root-css-or-js'
+}
 
 describe('generateTasks', () => {
-    it('should not generate tasks for non-matching files', () => {
-        const res = generateTasks(simpleConfig, ['test'])
-        expect(res).toBeAn('array')
-        expect(res.length).toEqual(0)
+    it('should return only linters it could find files for', () => {
+        const result = generateTasks(linters, files)
+        const commands = result.map(match => match.commands)
+        expect(commands).toEqual([
+            'root-js',
+            'any-js',
+            'deeper-js',
+            'hidden-js',
+            // 'unknown-js' does not match any files
+            'root-css-or-js'
+        ])
     })
 
-    it('should generate tasks for files with dots in path', () => {
-        const res = generateTasks(simpleConfig, files)
-        expect(res).toBeAn('array')
-        expect(res[0].fileList).toEqual(['/.storybook/test.css', '.storybook/test.css'])
+    it('should match pattern "*.js"', () => {
+        const result = generateTasks(linters, files)
+        const linter = result.find(item => item.pattern === '*.js')
+        expect(linter).toEqual({
+            pattern: '*.js',
+            commands: 'root-js',
+            fileList: [
+                '/root/test.js',
+                '/root/deeper/test.js',
+                '/root/deeper/test2.js',
+                '/root/even/deeper/test.js',
+                '/root/.hidden/test.js'
+            ]
+        })
     })
 
-    it('should generate tasks with complex globs', () => {
-        const res = generateTasks({
-            '**/*.css': 'stylelint'
-        }, files)
-        expect(res).toBeAn('array')
-        expect(res[0].fileList).toEqual(['/.storybook/test.css', '.storybook/test.css'])
+    it('should match pattern "**/*.js"', () => {
+        const result = generateTasks(linters, files)
+        const linter = result.find(item => item.pattern === '**/*.js')
+        expect(linter).toEqual({
+            pattern: '**/*.js',
+            commands: 'any-js',
+            fileList: [
+                '/root/test.js',
+                '/root/deeper/test.js',
+                '/root/deeper/test2.js',
+                '/root/even/deeper/test.js',
+                '/root/.hidden/test.js'
+            ]
+        })
     })
 
-    it('should generate tasks for simple config', () => {
-        const res = generateTasks(simpleConfig, files)
-        expect(res).toBeAn('array')
-        expect(res.length).toBe(1)
-        expect(res).toEqual([
-            {
-                pattern: '*.css',
-                commands: 'stylelint',
-                fileList: ['/.storybook/test.css', '.storybook/test.css']
-            }
-        ])
+    it('should match pattern "deeper/*.js"', () => {
+        const result = generateTasks(linters, files)
+        const linter = result.find(item => item.pattern === 'deeper/*.js')
+        expect(linter).toEqual({
+            pattern: 'deeper/*.js',
+            commands: 'deeper-js',
+            fileList: [
+                '/root/deeper/test.js',
+                '/root/deeper/test2.js'
+            ]
+        })
     })
 
-    it('should generate tasks for nested config', () => {
-        const res = generateTasks(nestedConfig, files)
-        expect(res).toBeAn('array')
-        expect(res.length).toBe(2)
-        expect(res).toEqual([
-            {
-                pattern: '*.js',
-                commands: ['eslint --fix', 'git add'],
-                fileList: ['test.js', 'src/.hidden/test2.js']
-            },
-            {
-                pattern: '*.css',
-                commands: 'stylelint',
-                fileList: ['/.storybook/test.css', '.storybook/test.css']
-            }
-        ])
+    it('should match pattern ".hidden/*.js"', () => {
+        const result = generateTasks(linters, files)
+        const linter = result.find(item => item.pattern === '.hidden/*.js')
+        expect(linter).toEqual({
+            pattern: '.hidden/*.js',
+            commands: 'hidden-js',
+            fileList: [
+                '/root/.hidden/test.js'
+            ]
+        })
+    })
+
+    it('should match pattern "*.{css,js}"', () => {
+        const result = generateTasks(linters, files)
+        const linter = result.find(item => item.pattern === '*.{css,js}')
+        expect(linter).toEqual({
+            pattern: '*.{css,js}',
+            commands: 'root-css-or-js',
+            fileList: [
+                '/root/test.js',
+                '/root/deeper/test.js',
+                '/root/deeper/test2.js',
+                '/root/even/deeper/test.js',
+                '/root/.hidden/test.js',
+                '/root/test.css',
+                '/root/deeper/test.css',
+                '/root/deeper/test2.css',
+                '/root/even/deeper/test.css',
+                '/root/.hidden/test.css'
+            ]
+        })
     })
 })
diff --git a/test/resolvePaths.spec.js b/test/resolvePaths.spec.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 7a5230f26..000000000
--- a/test/resolvePaths.spec.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
-/* eslint no-unused-expressions: 0 */
-
-import expect from 'expect'
-import path from 'path'
-import fs from 'fs'
-import resolvePaths from '../src/resolvePaths'
-
-const files = fs.readdirSync(path.resolve('test', '__fixtures__')).map(file => ({
-    filename: file
-}))
-
-const cwdParent = path.resolve('..')
-
-describe('resolvePaths', () => {
-    it('should return Array of filenames', () => {
-        expect(resolvePaths([])).toBeAn('array')
-        expect(resolvePaths(files)).toBeAn('array')
-        expect(resolvePaths(files)).toEqual(
-            [
-                'test.css',
-                'test.js',
-                'test.txt'
-            ]
-        )
-    })
-
-    it('should return CWD-relative paths if second parameter is set', () => {
-        expect(resolvePaths(files, cwdParent)).toEqual(
-            [
-                'test.css',
-                'test.js',
-                'test.txt'
-            ].map(file => path.join('..', file))
-        )
-    })
-})