diff --git a/heist.cabal b/heist.cabal
--- a/heist.cabal
+++ b/heist.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:           heist
-version:        0.3.0.0
+version:        0.4.0.0
 synopsis:       An xhtml templating system
 license:        BSD3
 license-file:   LICENSE
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@
     directory,
     directory-tree,
     filepath,
-    hexpat >= 0.19 && <0.20,
+    hexpat >= 0.19.5 && <0.20,
     MonadCatchIO-transformers >= 0.2.1 && < 0.3,
     mtl >= 2.0 && < 2.1,
     process,
diff --git a/src/Text/Templating/Heist.hs b/src/Text/Templating/Heist.hs
--- a/src/Text/Templating/Heist.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Templating/Heist.hs
@@ -125,12 +125,12 @@
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 -- | The default set of built-in splices.
-defaultSpliceMap :: MonadIO m => SpliceMap m
-defaultSpliceMap = Map.fromList
+defaultSpliceMap :: MonadIO m => FilePath -> SpliceMap m
+defaultSpliceMap templatePath = Map.fromList
     [(applyTag, applyImpl)
     ,(bindTag, bindImpl)
     ,(ignoreTag, ignoreImpl)
-    ,(markdownTag, markdownSplice)
+    ,(markdownTag, markdownSplice templatePath)
     ]
 
 
@@ -138,9 +138,10 @@
 -- | An empty template state, with Heist's default splices (@\<apply\>@,
 -- @\<bind\>@, @\<ignore\>@, and @\<markdown\>@) mapped.  The static tag is
 -- not mapped here because it must be mapped manually in your application.
-emptyTemplateState :: MonadIO m => TemplateState m
-emptyTemplateState = TemplateState defaultSpliceMap Map.empty True [] 0
-                                   return return return []
+emptyTemplateState :: MonadIO m => FilePath -> TemplateState m
+emptyTemplateState templatePath =
+    TemplateState (defaultSpliceMap templatePath) Map.empty
+                  True [] 0 return return return []
 
 
 -- $hookDoc
diff --git a/src/Text/Templating/Heist/Splices/Markdown.hs b/src/Text/Templating/Heist/Splices/Markdown.hs
--- a/src/Text/Templating/Heist/Splices/Markdown.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Templating/Heist/Splices/Markdown.hs
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import           Prelude hiding (catch)
 import           System.Directory
 import           System.Exit
+import           System.FilePath.Posix
 import           System.IO
 import           System.Process
 import           Text.XML.Expat.Tree hiding (Node)
@@ -51,8 +52,8 @@
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 -- | Implementation of the markdown splice.
-markdownSplice :: MonadIO m => Splice m
-markdownSplice = do
+markdownSplice :: MonadIO m => FilePath -> Splice m
+markdownSplice templatePath = do
     pdMD <- liftIO $ findExecutable "pandoc"
 
     when (isNothing pdMD) $ liftIO $ throwIO PandocMissingException
@@ -60,7 +61,7 @@
     tree <- getParamNode
     markup <- liftIO $
         case getAttribute tree "file" of
-            Just f  -> pandoc (fromJust pdMD) $ BC.unpack f
+            Just f  -> pandoc (fromJust pdMD) templatePath $ BC.unpack f
             Nothing -> pandocBS (fromJust pdMD) $ textContent tree
 
     let ee = parse' heistExpatOptions markup
@@ -70,8 +71,8 @@
       (Right n) -> return [n]
 
 
-pandoc :: FilePath -> FilePath -> IO ByteString
-pandoc pandocPath inputFile = do
+pandoc :: FilePath -> FilePath -> FilePath -> IO ByteString
+pandoc pandocPath templatePath inputFile = do
     (ex, sout, serr) <- readProcessWithExitCode' pandocPath args ""
 
     when (isFail ex) $ throw $ MarkdownException serr
@@ -83,8 +84,7 @@
     isFail ExitSuccess = False
     isFail _           = True
 
-    -- FIXME: hardcoded path
-    args = [ "-S", "--no-wrap", "templates/"++inputFile ]
+    args = [ "-S", "--no-wrap", templatePath </> inputFile ]
 
 
 pandocBS :: FilePath -> ByteString -> IO ByteString
diff --git a/src/Text/Templating/Heist/Types.hs b/src/Text/Templating/Heist/Types.hs
--- a/src/Text/Templating/Heist/Types.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Templating/Heist/Types.hs
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
 import             Control.Monad.Error
 import             Control.Monad.Reader
 import             Control.Monad.State
-import             Control.Monad.Trans
 import             Data.ByteString.Char8 (ByteString)
 import qualified   Data.Map as Map
 import             Data.Map (Map)
@@ -361,7 +360,7 @@
 -- scope" as opposed to the template call "local scope" of state items such
 -- as recursionDepth, curContext, and spliceMap.
 restoreTS :: Monad m => TemplateState m -> TemplateMonad m ()
-restoreTS ts1 = 
+restoreTS ts1 =
     modifyTS (\ts2 -> ts2
         { _recursionDepth = _recursionDepth ts1
         , _curContext = _curContext ts1