diff --git a/altsrc/yaml_file_loader.go b/altsrc/yaml_file_loader.go
index 335356f..dd808d5 100644
--- a/altsrc/yaml_file_loader.go
+++ b/altsrc/yaml_file_loader.go
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
 	"os"
+	"runtime"
+	"strings"
 
 	"gopkg.in/urfave/cli.v1"
 
@@ -78,6 +80,12 @@ func loadDataFrom(filePath string) ([]byte, error) {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("Cannot read from file: '%s' because it does not exist.", filePath)
 		}
 		return ioutil.ReadFile(filePath)
+	} else if runtime.GOOS == "windows" && strings.Contains(u.String(), "\\") {
+		// on Windows systems u.Path is always empty, so we need to check the string directly.
+		if _, notFoundFileErr := os.Stat(filePath); notFoundFileErr != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("Cannot read from file: '%s' because it does not exist.", filePath)
+		}
+		return ioutil.ReadFile(filePath)
 	} else {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to determine how to load from path %s", filePath)
 	}