diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/transport/URIishTest.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/transport/URIishTest.java
index 6a53810d0..fe8e38fc7 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/transport/URIishTest.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/transport/URIishTest.java
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@
 
 package org.eclipse.jgit.transport;
 
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 
 import junit.framework.TestCase;
@@ -448,6 +450,41 @@ public class URIishTest extends TestCase {
 		assertEquals(u, new URIish(str));
 	}
 
+	public void testFileProtocol() throws IllegalArgumentException,
+			URISyntaxException, IOException {
+		// as defined by git docu
+		URIish u = new URIish("file:///a/b.txt");
+		assertEquals("file", u.getScheme());
+		assertFalse(u.isRemote());
+		assertNull(u.getHost());
+		assertNull(u.getPass());
+		assertEquals("/a/b.txt", u.getPath());
+		assertEquals(-1, u.getPort());
+		assertNull(u.getUser());
+		assertEquals("b.txt", u.getHumanishName());
+
+		File tmp = File.createTempFile("jgitUnitTest", ".tmp");
+		u = new URIish(tmp.toURI().toString());
+		assertEquals("file", u.getScheme());
+		assertFalse(u.isRemote());
+		assertNull(u.getHost());
+		assertNull(u.getPass());
+		assertTrue(u.getPath().contains("jgitUnitTest"));
+		assertEquals(-1, u.getPort());
+		assertNull(u.getUser());
+		assertTrue(u.getHumanishName().startsWith("jgitUnitTest"));
+
+		u = new URIish("file:/a/b.txt");
+		assertEquals("file", u.getScheme());
+		assertFalse(u.isRemote());
+		assertNull(u.getHost());
+		assertNull(u.getPass());
+		assertEquals("/a/b.txt", u.getPath());
+		assertEquals(-1, u.getPort());
+		assertNull(u.getUser());
+		assertEquals("b.txt", u.getHumanishName());
+	}
+
 	public void testMissingPort() throws URISyntaxException {
 		final String incorrectSshUrl = "ssh://some-host:/path/to/repository.git";
 		URIish u = new URIish(incorrectSshUrl);
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/transport/URIish.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/transport/URIish.java
index 82f80c547..94f4a67d5 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/transport/URIish.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/transport/URIish.java
@@ -143,7 +143,17 @@ public class URIish implements Serializable {
 			+ "$");
 
 	/**
-	 * A pattern matching SCP URI's of the form user@host:path/to/repo.git
+	 * A pattern matching a URI for the scheme 'file' which has only ':/' as
+	 * separator between scheme and path. Standard file URIs have '://' as
+	 * separator, but java.io.File.toURI() constructs those URIs.
+	 */
+	private static final Pattern SINGLE_SLASH_FILE_URI = Pattern.compile("^" //
+			+ "(file):(/(?!/)" //
+			+ PATH_P //
+			+ ")$");
+
+	/**
+	 * A pattern matching a SCP URI's of the form user@host:path/to/repo.git
 	 */
 	private static final Pattern SCP_URI = Pattern.compile("^" //
 			+ OPT_USER_PWD_P //
@@ -173,30 +183,37 @@ public class URIish implements Serializable {
 	 */
 	public URIish(String s) throws URISyntaxException {
 		s = s.replace('\\', '/');
-		Matcher matcher = FULL_URI.matcher(s);
+		Matcher matcher = SINGLE_SLASH_FILE_URI.matcher(s);
 		if (matcher.matches()) {
 			scheme = matcher.group(1);
-			user = matcher.group(2);
-			pass = matcher.group(3);
-			host = matcher.group(4);
-			if (matcher.group(5) != null)
-				port = Integer.parseInt(matcher.group(5));
-			path = cleanLeadingSlashes(
-					n2e(matcher.group(6)) + n2e(matcher.group(7)), scheme);
+			path = cleanLeadingSlashes(matcher.group(2), scheme);
 		} else {
-			matcher = SCP_URI.matcher(s);
+			matcher = FULL_URI.matcher(s);
 			if (matcher.matches()) {
-				user = matcher.group(1);
-				pass = matcher.group(2);
-				host = matcher.group(3);
-				path = matcher.group(4);
+				scheme = matcher.group(1);
+				user = matcher.group(2);
+				pass = matcher.group(3);
+				host = matcher.group(4);
+				if (matcher.group(5) != null)
+					port = Integer.parseInt(matcher.group(5));
+				path = cleanLeadingSlashes(
+						n2e(matcher.group(6)) + n2e(matcher.group(7)),
+						scheme);
 			} else {
-				matcher = LOCAL_FILE.matcher(s);
+				matcher = SCP_URI.matcher(s);
 				if (matcher.matches()) {
-					path = matcher.group(1);
-				} else
-					throw new URISyntaxException(s,
-							JGitText.get().cannotParseGitURIish);
+					user = matcher.group(1);
+					pass = matcher.group(2);
+					host = matcher.group(3);
+					path = matcher.group(4);
+				} else {
+					matcher = LOCAL_FILE.matcher(s);
+					if (matcher.matches()) {
+						path = matcher.group(1);
+					} else
+						throw new URISyntaxException(s,
+								JGitText.get().cannotParseGitURIish);
+				}
 			}
 		}
 	}