diff --git a/cibuildwheel/__main__.py b/cibuildwheel/__main__.py
index ce8555cf..95bc96b9 100644
--- a/cibuildwheel/__main__.py
+++ b/cibuildwheel/__main__.py
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ def main() -> None:
     test_command = get_option_from_environment('CIBW_TEST_COMMAND', platform=platform)
     test_requires = get_option_from_environment('CIBW_TEST_REQUIRES', platform=platform, default='').split()
     test_extras = get_option_from_environment('CIBW_TEST_EXTRAS', platform=platform, default='')
-    package_dir = os.path.abspath(args.package_dir)
+    package_dir = args.package_dir
     before_build = get_option_from_environment('CIBW_BEFORE_BUILD', platform=platform)
     build_verbosity_str = get_option_from_environment('CIBW_BUILD_VERBOSITY', platform=platform, default='')
     build_config, skip_config = os.environ.get('CIBW_BUILD', '*'), os.environ.get('CIBW_SKIP', '')
diff --git a/cibuildwheel/macos.py b/cibuildwheel/macos.py
index 745c1557..96e874f9 100644
--- a/cibuildwheel/macos.py
+++ b/cibuildwheel/macos.py
@@ -194,7 +194,9 @@ def build(options: BuildOptions) -> None:
         if os.path.exists(built_wheel_dir):
             shutil.rmtree(built_wheel_dir)
         os.makedirs(built_wheel_dir)
-        call(['pip', 'wheel', options.package_dir, '-w', built_wheel_dir, '--no-deps'] + get_build_verbosity_extra_flags(options.build_verbosity), env=env)
+        # os.path.abspath is need. Without it pip wheel may try to fetch package from pypi.org
+        # see https://github.com/joerick/cibuildwheel/pull/369
+        call(['pip', 'wheel', os.path.abspath(options.package_dir), '-w', built_wheel_dir, '--no-deps'] + get_build_verbosity_extra_flags(options.build_verbosity), env=env)
         built_wheel = glob(os.path.join(built_wheel_dir, '*.whl'))[0]
 
         # repair the wheel
diff --git a/cibuildwheel/windows.py b/cibuildwheel/windows.py
index 9f33ad91..7feb2998 100644
--- a/cibuildwheel/windows.py
+++ b/cibuildwheel/windows.py
@@ -180,7 +180,9 @@ def build(options: BuildOptions) -> None:
         if os.path.exists(built_wheel_dir):
             shutil.rmtree(built_wheel_dir)
         os.makedirs(built_wheel_dir)
-        shell(['pip', 'wheel', options.package_dir, '-w', built_wheel_dir, '--no-deps'] + get_build_verbosity_extra_flags(options.build_verbosity), env=env)
+        # os.path.abspath is need. Without it pip wheel may try to fetch package from pypi.org
+        # see https://github.com/joerick/cibuildwheel/pull/369
+        shell(['pip', 'wheel', os.path.abspath(options.package_dir), '-w', built_wheel_dir, '--no-deps'] + get_build_verbosity_extra_flags(options.build_verbosity), env=env)
         built_wheel = glob(os.path.join(built_wheel_dir, '*.whl'))[0]
 
         # repair the wheel
diff --git a/unit_test/main_tests/conftest.py b/unit_test/main_tests/conftest.py
index 4542b9df..cd896915 100644
--- a/unit_test/main_tests/conftest.py
+++ b/unit_test/main_tests/conftest.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class ArgsInterceptor:
         self.kwargs = kwargs
 
 
-MOCK_PACKAGE_DIR = os.path.abspath('some_package_dir')
+MOCK_PACKAGE_DIR = 'some_package_dir'
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)