diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/util/LocationUtil.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/util/LocationUtil.java
index 4c0d401c74b9..4a8e025d7e05 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/util/LocationUtil.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/util/LocationUtil.java
@@ -57,4 +57,59 @@ public static String tableLocation(TableIdentifier tableIdentifier, boolean useU
       return tableIdentifier.name();
     }
   }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns true if the location contains a URI scheme (e.g. {@code s3:}, {@code hdfs:}, {@code
+   * file:}), per <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3986#section-3.1">RFC 3986
+   * section 3.1</a>.
+   */
+  private static boolean hasScheme(String location) {
+    if (location.isEmpty()) {
+      return false;
+    }
+
+    // Early termination for relative locations since most commonly start with /
+    if (location.charAt(0) == '/') {
+      return false;
+    }
+
+    for (int i = 0; i < location.length(); i += 1) {
+      char ch = location.charAt(i);
+      if (ch == ':') {
+        return i > 0;
+      }
+
+      if (!Character.isLetterOrDigit(ch) && ch != '+' && ch != '-' && ch != '.') {
+        return false;
+      }
+    }
+
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Resolves a location against a table location. If the location has a URI scheme, it is returned
+   * as-is. Otherwise, the location is appended to the table location without any additional
+   * separator.
+   */
+  public static String resolveLocation(String tableLocation, String location) {
+    if (hasScheme(location)) {
+      return location;
+    }
+
+    return tableLocation + location;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Relativizes a location against a table location. If the location starts with the table
+   * location, the prefix is removed and the remaining relative portion is returned. Otherwise, the
+   * location is returned as-is.
+   */
+  public static String relativizeLocation(String tableLocation, String location) {
+    if (location.startsWith(tableLocation)) {
+      return location.substring(tableLocation.length());
+    }
+
+    return location;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/util/TestLocationUtil.java b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/util/TestLocationUtil.java
index 9a7b2768d995..ecaceeac80b8 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/util/TestLocationUtil.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/util/TestLocationUtil.java
@@ -84,4 +84,141 @@ void testStripTrailingSlashForRootPathWithTrailingSlashes() {
         .as("Should be root path")
         .isEqualTo(rootPath);
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testResolveRelativeLocations() {
+    String tableLocation = "s3://bucket/table";
+
+    assertThat(LocationUtil.resolveLocation(tableLocation, "/metadata/file.parquet"))
+        .isEqualTo("s3://bucket/table/metadata/file.parquet");
+
+    assertThat(LocationUtil.resolveLocation(tableLocation, "/data/00000-0.parquet"))
+        .isEqualTo("s3://bucket/table/data/00000-0.parquet");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testResolveLocationsWithColonsInSegments() {
+    String tableLocation = "s3://bucket/table";
+
+    assertThat(
+            LocationUtil.resolveLocation(tableLocation, "/data/partition=key:value/file.parquet"))
+        .isEqualTo("s3://bucket/table/data/partition=key:value/file.parquet");
+
+    assertThat(LocationUtil.resolveLocation(tableLocation, "/metadata/snap-123:456.avro"))
+        .isEqualTo("s3://bucket/table/metadata/snap-123:456.avro");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testResolveAbsoluteLocationsUnchanged() {
+    String tableLocation = "s3://bucket/table";
+
+    assertThat(LocationUtil.resolveLocation(tableLocation, "s3://other-bucket/path/file.parquet"))
+        .isEqualTo("s3://other-bucket/path/file.parquet");
+
+    assertThat(LocationUtil.resolveLocation(tableLocation, "hdfs://namenode/path/file.parquet"))
+        .isEqualTo("hdfs://namenode/path/file.parquet");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testRelativize() {
+    String tableLocation = "s3://bucket/table";
+
+    assertThat(
+            LocationUtil.relativizeLocation(
+                tableLocation, "s3://bucket/table/metadata/file.parquet"))
+        .isEqualTo("/metadata/file.parquet");
+
+    assertThat(
+            LocationUtil.relativizeLocation(
+                tableLocation, "s3://bucket/table/data/00000-0.parquet"))
+        .isEqualTo("/data/00000-0.parquet");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testRelativizeLocationNotUnderTableLocation() {
+    String tableLocation = "s3://bucket/table";
+
+    // different bucket
+    assertThat(
+            LocationUtil.relativizeLocation(tableLocation, "s3://other-bucket/path/file.parquet"))
+        .isEqualTo("s3://other-bucket/path/file.parquet");
+
+    // same bucket, different path
+    assertThat(
+            LocationUtil.relativizeLocation(
+                tableLocation, "s3://bucket/other-table/data/file.parquet"))
+        .isEqualTo("s3://bucket/other-table/data/file.parquet");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testRelativizeLocationEqualToTableLocation() {
+    String tableLocation = "s3://bucket/table";
+
+    assertThat(LocationUtil.relativizeLocation(tableLocation, "s3://bucket/table")).isEqualTo("");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testRelativizeMismatchedFileSchemeNotRelativized() {
+    // mixed file: variants are NOT relativized. Consistent URI forms are the caller's
+    // responsibility
+    assertThat(
+            LocationUtil.relativizeLocation(
+                "file:/tmp/table", "file:///tmp/table/metadata/file.parquet"))
+        .isEqualTo("file:///tmp/table/metadata/file.parquet");
+
+    assertThat(
+            LocationUtil.relativizeLocation(
+                "file:///tmp/table", "file:/tmp/table/metadata/file.parquet"))
+        .isEqualTo("file:/tmp/table/metadata/file.parquet");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testResolveAbsoluteLocationWithNonAlphanumericScheme() {
+    String tableLocation = "s3://bucket/table";
+
+    assertThat(LocationUtil.resolveLocation(tableLocation, "git+ssh://host/repo"))
+        .isEqualTo("git+ssh://host/repo");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testResolveEmptyLocationReturnsTableLocation() {
+    String tableLocation = "s3://bucket/table";
+    assertThat(LocationUtil.resolveLocation(tableLocation, "")).isEqualTo(tableLocation);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testRelativizeResolveRoundTrip() {
+    String tableLocation = "s3://bucket/table";
+    String absoluteLocation = "s3://bucket/table/metadata/root-manifest.parquet";
+
+    String relativized = LocationUtil.relativizeLocation(tableLocation, absoluteLocation);
+    assertThat(relativized).isEqualTo("/metadata/root-manifest.parquet");
+
+    String resolved = LocationUtil.resolveLocation(tableLocation, relativized);
+    assertThat(resolved).isEqualTo(absoluteLocation);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testRelativizeResolveRoundTripWithFileScheme() {
+    String tableLocation = "file:///tmp/warehouse/table";
+    String absoluteLocation = "file:///tmp/warehouse/table/metadata/root-manifest.parquet";
+
+    String relativized = LocationUtil.relativizeLocation(tableLocation, absoluteLocation);
+    assertThat(relativized).isEqualTo("/metadata/root-manifest.parquet");
+
+    String resolved = LocationUtil.resolveLocation(tableLocation, relativized);
+    assertThat(resolved).isEqualTo(absoluteLocation);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testRelativizeResolveRoundTripWithHDFS() {
+    String tableLocation = "hdfs://namenode/warehouse/table";
+    String absoluteLocation = "hdfs://namenode/warehouse/table/data/00000-0.parquet";
+
+    String relativized = LocationUtil.relativizeLocation(tableLocation, absoluteLocation);
+    assertThat(relativized).isEqualTo("/data/00000-0.parquet");
+
+    String resolved = LocationUtil.resolveLocation(tableLocation, relativized);
+    assertThat(resolved).isEqualTo(absoluteLocation);
+  }
 }