diff --git a/packages/cli/src/util/load-plan.ts b/packages/cli/src/util/load-plan.ts
index 9c41550ed..d0d3545d0 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/util/load-plan.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/util/load-plan.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ const loadPlan = async (
     | 'adaptors'
     | 'baseDir'
     | 'expandAdaptors'
+    | 'statePath'
   >,
   logger: Logger
 ): Promise<ExecutionPlan> => {
@@ -203,6 +204,9 @@ const importExpressions = async (
       typeof job.expression === 'string' && job.expression?.trim();
     const configurationStr =
       typeof job.configuration === 'string' && job.configuration?.trim();
+    const stateStr = 
+      typeof job.state === 'string' && job.state?.trim();
+
     if (expressionStr && isPath(expressionStr)) {
       job.expression = await fetchFile(
         job.id || `${idx}`,
@@ -220,6 +224,27 @@ const importExpressions = async (
       );
       job.configuration = JSON.parse(configString!);
     }
+
+    if (stateStr && isPath(stateStr)) {
+      const stateString = await fetchFile(
+        job.id || `${idx}`,
+        rootDir,
+        stateStr,
+        log
+      );
+      job.state = JSON.parse(stateString!);
+    }
+
+    const state = job.state
+    if (typeof state === 'object' && state !== null) {
+      const keys = Object.keys(state);
+      for (const key of keys) {
+        if (typeof state[key] === 'string' && isPath(state[key])) {
+          const fileContent = await fetchFile(job.id || `${idx}`, rootDir, state[key], log);
+          state[key] = JSON.parse(fileContent);
+        }
+      }
+    }
   }
 };
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/util/load-plan.test.ts b/packages/cli/test/util/load-plan.test.ts
index caadaad71..a4473061b 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/util/load-plan.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/util/load-plan.test.ts
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ test.serial('expression: load a plan from an expression.js', async (t) => {
     plan: {},
   };
 
-  const plan = await loadPlan(opts as Opts, logger);
+  const plan = await loadPlan(opts as unknown as Opts, logger);
 
   t.truthy(plan);
   t.deepEqual(plan.options, {});
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ test.serial('xplan: load a plan from workflow path', async (t) => {
     plan: {},
   };
 
-  const plan = await loadPlan(opts as Opts, logger);
+  const plan = await loadPlan(opts as unknown as Opts, logger);
 
   t.truthy(plan);
   t.deepEqual(plan, sampleXPlan);
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ test.serial('xplan: expand adaptors', async (t) => {
     'test/wf.json': JSON.stringify(plan),
   });
 
-  const result = await loadPlan(opts as Opts, logger);
+  const result = await loadPlan(opts as unknown as Opts, logger);
   t.truthy(result);
 
   const step = result.workflow.steps[0] as Job;
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ test.serial('xplan: do not expand adaptors', async (t) => {
     'test/wf.json': JSON.stringify(plan),
   });
 
-  const result = await loadPlan(opts as Opts, logger);
+  const result = await loadPlan(opts as unknown as Opts, logger);
   t.truthy(result);
 
   const step = result.workflow.steps[0] as Job;
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ test.serial('xplan: set timeout from CLI', async (t) => {
     'test/wf.json': JSON.stringify(plan),
   });
 
-  const { options } = await loadPlan(opts as Opts, logger);
+  const { options } = await loadPlan(opts as unknown as Opts, logger);
   t.is(options.timeout, 666);
 });
 
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ test.serial('xplan: set start from CLI', async (t) => {
     'test/wf.json': JSON.stringify(plan),
   });
 
-  const { options } = await loadPlan(opts as Opts, logger);
+  const { options } = await loadPlan(opts as unknown as Opts, logger);
   t.is(options.start, 'b');
 });
 
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ test.serial('old-workflow: load a plan from workflow path', async (t) => {
     plan: {},
   };
 
-  const plan = await loadPlan(opts as Opts, logger);
+  const plan = await loadPlan(opts as unknown as Opts, logger);
 
   t.deepEqual(plan.options, {
     start: 'a',
@@ -271,3 +271,35 @@ test.serial('old-workflow: load a plan from workflow path', async (t) => {
     expression: 'x()',
   });
 });
+
+test.serial('step: allow file paths for state and data', async (t) => {
+  const opts = {
+    workflowPath: 'test/wf.json',
+    plan: {},
+  };
+
+  const plan = createPlan([
+    {
+      id: 'a',
+      expression: '.',
+      state: './state.json',
+    },
+  ]);
+
+  mock({
+    'test/data.json': JSON.stringify({ x: 1 }),
+    'test/state.json': JSON.stringify({
+      data: "./data.json"
+    }),
+    'test/wf.json': JSON.stringify(plan),
+  });
+  const result = await loadPlan(opts as unknown as Opts, logger);
+  t.truthy(result);
+
+  const step = result.workflow.steps[0] as Job;
+  t.deepEqual(step.state, {
+    data: {
+      x: 1
+    }
+  });
+});
\ No newline at end of file