diff --git a/docs/config/index.md b/docs/config/index.md
index 9d46f835bd66dc..9515267dd0313c 100644
--- a/docs/config/index.md
+++ b/docs/config/index.md
@@ -103,7 +103,13 @@ export default ({ command, mode }) => {
 - **Type:** `string`
 - **Default:** `/`
 
-  Base public path when served in development or production. Note the path should start and end with `/`. See [Public Base Path](/guide/build#public-base-path) for more details.
+  Base public path when served in development or production. Valid values include:
+  
+  - Absolute URL pathname, e.g. `/foo/`
+  - Full URL, e.g. `https://foo.com/`
+  - Empty string or `./` (for embedded deployment)
+  
+  See [Public Base Path](/guide/build#public-base-path) for more details.
 
 ### mode
 
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/config.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/config.ts
index 4111fc54341be5..1e05703c6b7452 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/config.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/config.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,13 @@ import Rollup from 'rollup'
 import { BuildOptions, resolveBuildOptions } from './build'
 import { ServerOptions } from './server'
 import { CSSOptions } from './plugins/css'
-import { createDebugger, isObject, lookupFile, normalizePath } from './utils'
+import {
+  createDebugger,
+  isExternalUrl,
+  isObject,
+  lookupFile,
+  normalizePath
+} from './utils'
 import { resolvePlugins } from './plugins'
 import chalk from 'chalk'
 import {
@@ -23,6 +29,7 @@ import { createLogger, Logger, LogLevel } from './logger'
 import { DepOptimizationOptions } from './optimizer'
 import { createFilter } from '@rollup/pluginutils'
 import { ResolvedBuildOptions } from '.'
+import { parse as parseUrl } from 'url'
 
 const debug = createDebugger('vite:config')
 
@@ -238,16 +245,7 @@ export async function resolveConfig(
     config.base = config.build.base
   }
 
-  let BASE_URL = config.base || '/'
-  if (!BASE_URL.startsWith('/') || !BASE_URL.endsWith('/')) {
-    logger.warn(
-      chalk.bold.yellow(
-        `(!) "base" config option should start and end with "/".`
-      )
-    )
-    if (!BASE_URL.startsWith('/')) BASE_URL = '/' + BASE_URL
-    if (!BASE_URL.endsWith('/')) BASE_URL = BASE_URL + '/'
-  }
+  const BASE_URL = resolveBaseUrl(config.base, command === 'build', logger)
 
   const resolvedBuildOptions = resolveBuildOptions(config.build)
 
@@ -339,6 +337,55 @@ export async function resolveConfig(
   return resolved
 }
 
+/**
+ * Resolve base. Note that some users use Vite to build for non-web targets like
+ * electron or expects to deploy
+ */
+function resolveBaseUrl(
+  base: UserConfig['base'] = '/',
+  isBuild: boolean,
+  logger: Logger
+): string {
+  // #1669 special treatment for empty for same dir relative base
+  if (base === '' || base === './') {
+    return isBuild ? base : '/'
+  }
+  if (base.startsWith('.')) {
+    logger.warn(
+      chalk.yellow.bold(
+        `(!) invalid "base" option: ${base}. The value can only be an absolute ` +
+          `URL, ./, or an empty string.`
+      )
+    )
+    base = '/'
+  }
+
+  // external URL
+  if (isExternalUrl(base)) {
+    if (!isBuild) {
+      // get base from full url during dev
+      const parsed = parseUrl(base)
+      base = parsed.pathname || '/'
+    }
+  } else {
+    // ensure leading slash
+    if (!base.startsWith('/')) {
+      logger.warn(
+        chalk.yellow.bold(`(!) "base" option should start with a slash.`)
+      )
+      base = '/' + base
+    }
+  }
+
+  // ensure ending slash
+  if (!base.endsWith('/')) {
+    logger.warn(chalk.yellow.bold(`(!) "base" option should end with a slash.`))
+    base += '/'
+  }
+
+  return base
+}
+
 export function mergeConfig(
   a: Record<string, any>,
   b: Record<string, any>,
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/css.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/css.ts
index b17aa65b726677..dcfb561f7de83f 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/css.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/css.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import postcssrc from 'postcss-load-config'
 import merge from 'merge-source-map'
 import {
   NormalizedOutputOptions,
+  PluginContext,
   RenderedChunk,
   RollupError,
   SourceMap
@@ -238,21 +239,13 @@ export function cssPostPlugin(config: ResolvedConfig): Plugin {
         return null
       }
 
-      // replace asset url references with resolved url
-      chunkCSS = chunkCSS.replace(assetUrlRE, (_, fileId, postfix = '') => {
-        return config.base + this.getFileName(fileId) + postfix
-      })
-
       if (config.build.cssCodeSplit) {
         if (!code.trim()) {
           // this is a shared CSS-only chunk that is empty.
           emptyChunks.add(chunk.fileName)
         }
-        // minify
-        if (config.build.minify) {
-          chunkCSS = await minifyCSS(chunkCSS, config)
-        }
         if (opts.format === 'es') {
+          chunkCSS = await processChunkCSS(chunkCSS, config, this, false)
           // emit corresponding css file
           const fileHandle = this.emitFile({
             name: chunk.name + '.css',
@@ -262,6 +255,7 @@ export function cssPostPlugin(config: ResolvedConfig): Plugin {
           chunkToEmittedCssFileMap.set(chunk, fileHandle)
         } else if (!config.build.ssr) {
           // legacy build, inline css
+          chunkCSS = await processChunkCSS(chunkCSS, config, this, true)
           const style = `__vite_style__`
           const injectCode =
             `var ${style} = document.createElement('style');` +
@@ -284,6 +278,7 @@ export function cssPostPlugin(config: ResolvedConfig): Plugin {
         }
       } else {
         const extractedCss = outputToExtractedCSSMap.get(opts) || ''
+        chunkCSS = await processChunkCSS(chunkCSS, config, this, false)
         outputToExtractedCSSMap.set(opts, extractedCss + chunkCSS)
         return null
       }
@@ -739,6 +734,31 @@ function rewriteCssUrls(
   })
 }
 
+async function processChunkCSS(
+  css: string,
+  config: ResolvedConfig,
+  pluginCtx: PluginContext,
+  isInlined: boolean
+): Promise<string> {
+  // replace asset url references with resolved url.
+  const isRelativeBase = config.base === '' || config.base.startsWith('.')
+  css = css.replace(assetUrlRE, (_, fileId, postfix = '') => {
+    const filename = pluginCtx.getFileName(fileId) + postfix
+    if (!isRelativeBase || isInlined) {
+      // absoulte base or relative base but inlined (injected as style tag into
+      // index.html) use the base as-is
+      return config.base + filename
+    } else {
+      // relative base + extracted CSS - asset file will be in the same dir
+      return `./${path.posix.basename(filename)}`
+    }
+  })
+  if (config.build.minify) {
+    css = await minifyCSS(css, config)
+  }
+  return css
+}
+
 let CleanCSS: any
 
 async function minifyCSS(css: string, config: ResolvedConfig) {