diff --git a/docs/index.html b/docs/index.html
index 05b7ef2c7..80a1f3b9a 100644
--- a/docs/index.html
+++ b/docs/index.html
@@ -3704,42 +3704,48 @@ The following attributes are interpretted:
      <td>login</td>
      <td>username,password</td>
      <td>No</td>
-  <tr>
+  </tr>
   <tr>
      <td>vsspath</td>
      <td>SourceSafe path</td>
      <td>Yes</td>
-  <tr>
+  </tr>
   <tr>
      <td>localpath</td>
      <td>Override the working directory and get to the specified path</td>
      <td>No</td>
-  <tr>
+  </tr>
   <tr>
      <td>writable</td>
      <td>true or false</td>
      <td>No</td>
-  <tr>
+  </tr>
   <tr>
      <td>recursive</td>
      <td>true or false</td>
      <td>No</td>
-  <tr>
+  </tr>
   <tr>
      <td>version</td>
      <td>a version number to get</td>
      <td>No</td>
-  <tr>
+  </tr>
   <tr>
      <td>date</td>
      <td>a date stamp to get at</td>
      <td>No</td>
-  <tr>
+  </tr>
   <tr>
      <td>label</td>
      <td>a label to get for</td>
      <td>No</td>
+  </tr>
   <tr>
+     <td>ssdir</td>
+     <td>directory where <code>ss.exe</code> resides. By default the
+     task expects it to be in the PATH.</td>
+     <td>No</td>
+  </tr>
 </table>
 <p>Note that only one of version, date or label should be specified</p>
 <h3>Examples</h3>
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/vss/MSVSS.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/vss/MSVSS.java
index 9d9490784..b4c1c9821 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/vss/MSVSS.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/vss/MSVSS.java
@@ -63,8 +63,8 @@ import java.io.File;
  * A base class for creating tasks for executing commands on Visual SourceSafe.
  * <p>
  * The class extends the 'exec' task as it operates by executing the ss.exe program
- * supplied with SourceSafe. You will need to have ss.exe in your PATH to use this
- * task.
+ * supplied with SourceSafe. By default the task expects ss.exe to be in the path,
+ * you can override this be specifying the ssdir attribute.
  * </p>
  * <p>
  * This class provides set and get methods for 'login' and 'vsspath' attributes. It
@@ -76,9 +76,32 @@ import java.io.File;
  */
 public abstract class MSVSS extends Exec {
 
+    private String m_SSDir = "";
     private String m_vssLogin = null;
     private String m_vssPath = null;
 
+    /**
+     * Set the directory where ss.exe is located
+     *
+     * @param dir the directory containing ss.exe
+     */
+    public final void setSsdir(String dir) {
+        m_SSDir = project.translatePath(dir);
+    }
+    
+    /**
+     * Builds and returns the command string to execute ss.exe
+     */
+    public final String getSSCommand() {
+        String toReturn = m_SSDir;
+        if ( !toReturn.equals("") && !toReturn.endsWith("\\") ) {
+            toReturn += "\\";
+        }
+        toReturn += SS_EXE;
+        
+        return toReturn;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Set the login to use when accessing vss.
      * <p>
@@ -128,7 +151,7 @@ public abstract class MSVSS extends Exec {
     /**
      * Constant for the thing to execute
      */
-    public static final String SS_EXE = "ss";
+    private static final String SS_EXE = "ss";
 	/** */
     public static final String PROJECT_PREFIX = "$";
 
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/vss/MSVSSGET.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/vss/MSVSSGET.java
index 816b547ca..a50a13dea 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/vss/MSVSSGET.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/optional/vss/MSVSSGET.java
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ public class MSVSSGET extends MSVSS {
         // build the command line from what we got the format is
         // ss Get VSS items [-G] [-H] [-I-] [-N] [-O] [-R] [-V] [-W] [-Y] [-?]
         // as specified in the SS.EXE help
-        commandLine.append(SS_EXE).append(' ').append(COMMAND_GET);
+        commandLine.append(getSSCommand()).append(' ').append(COMMAND_GET);
 
         // VSS items
         commandLine.append(getVsspath());