diff --git a/src/babashka/main.clj b/src/babashka/main.clj
index f5307886..f34237f4 100644
--- a/src/babashka/main.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/main.clj
@@ -479,7 +479,10 @@ If neither -e, -f, or --socket-repl are specified, then the first argument that
                         (let [res (cp/source-for-namespace loader namespace nil)]
                           (when uberscript (swap! uberscript-sources conj (:source res)))
                           res)))
-            _ (when file (vars/bindRoot sci/file (.getCanonicalPath (io/file file))))
+            _ (when file
+                (let [canonical-path (.getCanonicalPath (io/file file))]
+                  (vars/bindRoot sci/file canonical-path)
+                  (System/setProperty "babashka.file" canonical-path)))
             ;; TODO: pull more of these values to compile time
             opts {:aliases aliases
                   :namespaces (-> namespaces
diff --git a/test-resources/babashka/file_property1.clj b/test-resources/babashka/file_property1.clj
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5c93a114
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-resources/babashka/file_property1.clj
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+(ns babashka.file-property1
+  (:require [clojure.java.io :as io]))
+
+(prn (= *file* (System/getProperty "babashka.file")))
+
+(load-file (.getPath (io/file "test-resources" "babashka" "file_property2.clj")))
diff --git a/test-resources/babashka/file_property2.clj b/test-resources/babashka/file_property2.clj
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..39e6b0f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-resources/babashka/file_property2.clj
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+(ns babashka.file-property2)
+
+(prn (= *file* (System/getProperty "babashka.file")))
diff --git a/test/babashka/main_test.clj b/test/babashka/main_test.clj
index f708e38a..2f516f72 100644
--- a/test/babashka/main_test.clj
+++ b/test/babashka/main_test.clj
@@ -486,11 +486,10 @@
 (deftest data-diff-test
   (is (= [[nil 1] [nil 2] [1 nil 2]] (bb nil "(require '[clojure.data :as d]) (d/diff [1 1 2] [1 2 2])"))))
 
-(deftest version-test
+(deftest version-property-test
   (is (= "true\ntrue\nfalse\n"
          (test-utils/bb nil (.getPath (io/file "test-resources" "babashka" "version.clj"))))))
 
-
 (defmethod clojure.test/assert-expr 'working? [msg form]
   (let [body (next form)]
     `(do ~@body
@@ -503,6 +502,12 @@
   (testing "bb executes the empty expression and doesn't start a REPL"
     (is (working? (test-utils/bb nil "-e" "")))))
 
+(deftest file-property-test
+  (is (= "true\nfalse\n"
+         (test-utils/bb nil (.getPath (io/file "test-resources" "babashka" "file_property1.clj")))))
+  (is (= "true\n"
+         (test-utils/bb nil (.getPath (io/file "test-resources" "babashka" "file_property2.clj"))))))
+
 ;;;; Scratch
 
 (comment