diff --git a/amiga/misc.c b/amiga/misc.c
index f492fcf8a..fb4b86ff4 100755
--- a/amiga/misc.c
+++ b/amiga/misc.c
@@ -76,9 +76,9 @@ char *url_to_path(const char *url)
 
 char *path_to_url(const char *path)
 {
-	char *r = malloc(strlen(path) + 8 + 1);
+	char *r = malloc(strlen(path) + FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX_LEN + 1);
 
-	strcpy(r, "file:///");
+	strcpy(r, FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX);
 	strcat(r, path);
 
 	return r;
diff --git a/beos/beos_gui.cpp b/beos/beos_gui.cpp
index d506cdfe6..57f81877a 100644
--- a/beos/beos_gui.cpp
+++ b/beos/beos_gui.cpp
@@ -1151,9 +1151,9 @@ utf8_convert_ret utf8_from_local_encoding(const char *string, size_t len,
 
 char *path_to_url(const char *path)
 {
-	char *r = (char *)malloc(strlen(path) + 7 + 1);
+	char *r = (char *)malloc(strlen(path) + FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX_LEN + 1);
 
-	strcpy(r, "file://");
+	strcpy(r, FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX);
 	strcat(r, path);
 
 	return r;
@@ -1161,7 +1161,7 @@ char *path_to_url(const char *path)
 
 char *url_to_path(const char *url)
 {
-	return strdup(url + 5);
+	return strdup(url + FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX_LEN);
 }
 
 bool cookies_update(const char *domain, const struct cookie_data *data)
diff --git a/content/fetchers/fetch_curl.c b/content/fetchers/fetch_curl.c
index 9ac3ad7b3..e5ff6bf71 100644
--- a/content/fetchers/fetch_curl.c
+++ b/content/fetchers/fetch_curl.c
@@ -1098,7 +1098,6 @@ size_t fetch_curl_header(char *data, size_t size, size_t nmemb,
 #undef SKIP_ST
 }
 
-
 /**
  * Find the status code and content type and inform the caller.
  *
@@ -1154,10 +1153,12 @@ bool fetch_curl_process_headers(struct curl_fetch_info *f)
 	}
 
 	/* find MIME type from filetype for local files */
-	if (strncmp(f->url, "file:///", 8) == 0) {
+	if (strncmp(f->url, FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX, FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX_LEN) == 0) {
 		struct stat s;
-		char *url_path = curl_unescape(f->url + 7, 
-				(int) strlen(f->url + 7));
+		char *url_path = curl_unescape(f->url + FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX_LEN, 
+				(int) strlen(f->url + FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX_LEN));
+
+		LOG(("Obtaining mime type for file %s", url_path));
 
 		if (url_path != NULL && stat(url_path, &s) == 0) {
 			/* file: URL and file exists */
diff --git a/framebuffer/findfile.c b/framebuffer/findfile.c
index 29b82588d..64d96fcb4 100644
--- a/framebuffer/findfile.c
+++ b/framebuffer/findfile.c
@@ -24,14 +24,15 @@
 #include <string.h>
 
 #include "utils/log.h"
+#include "utils/url.h"
 
 #include "framebuffer/findfile.h"
 
 char *path_to_url(const char *path)
 {
-	char *r = malloc(strlen(path) + 7 + 1);
+	char *r = malloc(strlen(path) + FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX_LEN + 1);
 
-	strcpy(r, "file://");
+	strcpy(r, FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX);
 	strcat(r, path);
 
 	return r;
diff --git a/framebuffer/findfile.h b/framebuffer/findfile.h
index 87b9a95e4..85a2f7074 100644
--- a/framebuffer/findfile.h
+++ b/framebuffer/findfile.h
@@ -19,8 +19,6 @@
 #ifndef NETSURF_FB_FINDFILE_H
 #define NETSURF_FB_FINDFILE_H
 
-char *path_to_url(const char *path);
-
 extern char *fb_find_resource(char *buf, const char *filename, const char *def);
 
 #endif /* NETSURF_FB_FINDFILE_H */
diff --git a/framebuffer/gui.c b/framebuffer/gui.c
index c537c705b..62ca77131 100644
--- a/framebuffer/gui.c
+++ b/framebuffer/gui.c
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include "desktop/netsurf.h"
 #include "desktop/options.h"
 #include "utils/log.h"
+#include "utils/url.h"
 #include "utils/messages.h"
 #include "utils/utils.h"
 #include "desktop/textinput.h"
diff --git a/gtk/gtk_gui.c b/gtk/gtk_gui.c
index ba2052083..c7c535fc5 100644
--- a/gtk/gtk_gui.c
+++ b/gtk/gtk_gui.c
@@ -97,8 +97,6 @@ static struct browser_window *select_menu_bw;
 static struct form_control *select_menu_control;
 
 static void nsgtk_init_glade(void);
-static char *nsgtk_find_resource(char *buf, const char *filename,
-		const char *def);
 static void nsgtk_check_homedir(void);
 static void *nsgtk_hubbub_realloc(void *ptr, size_t len, void *pw);
 static bool nsgtk_throbber_init(int framec);
@@ -114,6 +112,71 @@ static void nsgtk_PDF_no_pass(GtkButton *w, gpointer data);
 #define THROBBER_FRAMES 9
 
 
+/**
+ * Locate a shared resource file by searching known places in order.
+ *
+ * \param  buf      buffer to write to.  must be at least PATH_MAX chars. May be NULL and routine will allocate string which must be freed by caller.
+ * \param  filename file to look for
+ * \param  def      default to return if file not found
+ * \return buf
+ *
+ * Search order is: ~/.netsurf/, $NETSURFRES/ (where NETSURFRES is an
+ * environment variable), and finally the path specified by the define
+ * GTK_RESPATH.
+ */
+static char *
+nsgtk_find_resource(char *buf, const char *filename, const char *def)
+{
+	char *cdir = getenv("HOME");
+	char t[PATH_MAX];
+
+	if (buf == NULL) {
+		buf = malloc(PATH_MAX);
+		if (buf == NULL)
+			return NULL;
+	}
+
+	if (cdir != NULL) {
+		strcpy(t, cdir);
+		strcat(t, "/.netsurf/");
+		strcat(t, filename);
+		if (realpath(t, buf) != NULL) {
+                        if (access(buf, R_OK) == 0)
+                                return buf;
+                }
+	}
+
+	cdir = getenv("NETSURFRES");
+
+	if (cdir != NULL) {
+		if (realpath(cdir, buf) != NULL) {
+                        strcat(buf, "/");
+                        strcat(buf, filename);
+                        if (access(buf, R_OK) == 0)
+                                return buf;
+                }
+	}
+
+	strcpy(t, GTK_RESPATH);
+	strcat(t, filename);
+	if (realpath(t, buf) != NULL) {
+                if (access(buf, R_OK) == 0)
+                        return buf;
+        }
+
+	if (def[0] == '~') {
+		snprintf(t, PATH_MAX, "%s%s", getenv("HOME"), def + 1);
+		if (realpath(t, buf) == NULL) {
+                        strcpy(buf, t);
+                }
+	} else {
+		if (realpath(def, buf) == NULL) {
+                        strcpy(buf, def);
+                }
+	}
+
+	return buf;
+}
 
 
 /**
@@ -421,70 +484,6 @@ void gui_quit(void)
 }
 
 
-/**
- * Locate a shared resource file by searching known places in order.
- *
- * \param  buf      buffer to write to.  must be at least PATH_MAX chars. May be NULL and routine will allocate string which must be freed by caller.
- * \param  filename file to look for
- * \param  def      default to return if file not found
- * \return buf
- *
- * Search order is: ~/.netsurf/, $NETSURFRES/ (where NETSURFRES is an
- * environment variable), and finally the path specified by the define
- * GTK_RESPATH.
- */
-char *nsgtk_find_resource(char *buf, const char *filename, const char *def)
-{
-	char *cdir = getenv("HOME");
-	char t[PATH_MAX];
-
-	if (buf == NULL) {
-		buf = malloc(PATH_MAX);
-		if (buf == NULL)
-			return NULL;
-	}
-
-	if (cdir != NULL) {
-		strcpy(t, cdir);
-		strcat(t, "/.netsurf/");
-		strcat(t, filename);
-		if (realpath(t, buf) != NULL) {
-                        if (access(buf, R_OK) == 0)
-                                return buf;
-                }
-	}
-
-	cdir = getenv("NETSURFRES");
-
-	if (cdir != NULL) {
-		if (realpath(cdir, buf) != NULL) {
-                        strcat(buf, "/");
-                        strcat(buf, filename);
-                        if (access(buf, R_OK) == 0)
-                                return buf;
-                }
-	}
-
-	strcpy(t, GTK_RESPATH);
-	strcat(t, filename);
-	if (realpath(t, buf) != NULL) {
-                if (access(buf, R_OK) == 0)
-                        return buf;
-        }
-
-	if (def[0] == '~') {
-		snprintf(t, PATH_MAX, "%s%s", getenv("HOME"), def + 1);
-		if (realpath(t, buf) == NULL) {
-                        strcpy(buf, t);
-                }
-	} else {
-		if (realpath(def, buf) == NULL) {
-                        strcpy(buf, def);
-                }
-	}
-
-	return buf;
-}
 
 
 /**
@@ -729,9 +728,9 @@ utf8_convert_ret utf8_from_local_encoding(const char *string, size_t len,
 
 char *path_to_url(const char *path)
 {
-	char *r = malloc(strlen(path) + SLEN("file://") + 1);
+	char *r = malloc(strlen(path) + FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX_LEN + 1);
 
-	strcpy(r, "file://");
+	strcpy(r, FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX);
 	strcat(r, path);
 
 	return r;
@@ -740,7 +739,7 @@ char *path_to_url(const char *path)
 
 char *url_to_path(const char *url)
 {
-	return strdup(url + 5);
+	return strdup(url + FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX_LEN);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/gtk/gtk_scaffolding.c b/gtk/gtk_scaffolding.c
index 381711377..bfb48104d 100644
--- a/gtk/gtk_scaffolding.c
+++ b/gtk/gtk_scaffolding.c
@@ -390,9 +390,9 @@ void nsgtk_openfile_open(const char *filename)
 {
 	struct browser_window *bw = gui_window_get_browser_window(
 			current_model->top_level);
-	char url[strlen(filename) + SLEN("file://") + 1];
+	char url[strlen(filename) + FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX_LEN + 1];
 
-	sprintf(url, "file://%s", filename);
+	sprintf(url, FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX"%s", filename);
 
         browser_window_go(bw, url, 0, true);
 
diff --git a/riscos/gui.c b/riscos/gui.c
index 007466f55..24723a87c 100644
--- a/riscos/gui.c
+++ b/riscos/gui.c
@@ -2074,10 +2074,10 @@ char *path_to_url(const char *path)
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	memcpy(url, "file://", SLEN("file://"));
+	memcpy(url, FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX, FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX_LEN);
 	if (__unixify(buffer, __RISCOSIFY_NO_REVERSE_SUFFIX,
-			url + SLEN("file://"),
-			1 - spare + 10 - SLEN("file://"),
+			url + FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX_LEN,
+			1 - spare + 10 - FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX_LEN,
 			0) == NULL) {
 		LOG(("__unixify failed: %s", buffer));
 		free(buffer);
@@ -2087,7 +2087,7 @@ char *path_to_url(const char *path)
 	free(buffer); buffer = NULL;
 
 	/* We don't want '/' to be escaped.  */
-	url_err = url_escape(url, SLEN("file://"), false, "/", &escurl);
+	url_err = url_escape(url, FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX_LEN, false, "/", &escurl);
 	free(url); url = NULL;
 	if (url_err != URL_FUNC_OK) {
 		LOG(("url_escape failed: %s", url));
@@ -2110,7 +2110,7 @@ char *url_to_path(const char *url)
 	char *temp_name, *r;
 	char *filename;
 
-	if (strncmp(url, "file:///", 8))
+	if (strncmp(url, FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX, FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX_LEN))
 		return NULL;
 
 	temp_name = curl_unescape(url + 7, strlen(url) - 7);
diff --git a/utils/url.h b/utils/url.h
index f83c626f6..e0e18fb17 100644
--- a/utils/url.h
+++ b/utils/url.h
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@
 #ifndef _NETSURF_UTILS_URL_H_
 #define _NETSURF_UTILS_URL_H_
 
+/* file url prefix */
+#define FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX "file:///"
+#define FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX_LEN 8
+
 typedef enum {
 	URL_FUNC_OK,     /**< No error */
 	URL_FUNC_NOMEM,  /**< Insufficient memory */
diff --git a/windows/findfile.c b/windows/findfile.c
index f47e49d03..c3e613d3a 100644
--- a/windows/findfile.c
+++ b/windows/findfile.c
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
+#include "utils/url.h"
 #include "utils/log.h"
 #include "utils/utils.h"
 
@@ -37,12 +38,19 @@ static char *realpath(const char *path, char *resolved_path)
 
 char *path_to_url(const char *path)
 {
-	char *r = malloc(strlen(path) + 7 + 1);
+	char *url = malloc(strlen(path) + FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX_LEN + 1);
+	char *sidx;
 
-	strcpy(r, "file://");
-	strcat(r, path);
+	strcpy(url, FILE_SCHEME_PREFIX);
+	strcat(url, path);
 
-	return r;
+	sidx = strrchr(url, '\\');
+	while (sidx != NULL) {
+		*sidx = '/';
+		sidx = strrchr(url, '\\');
+	}
+
+	return url;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/windows/findfile.h b/windows/findfile.h
index f9b6746da..fcc2da94d 100644
--- a/windows/findfile.h
+++ b/windows/findfile.h
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@
 
 #define NETSURF_WINDOWS_RESPATH "C:"
 
-char *path_to_url(const char *path);
-
 extern char *nsws_find_resource(char *buf, const char *filename,
 		const char *def);
 
diff --git a/windows/gui.c b/windows/gui.c
index c4fc442e9..ab36d92dd 100644
--- a/windows/gui.c
+++ b/windows/gui.c
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 #include "desktop/selection.h"
 #include "desktop/textinput.h"
 #include "render/html.h"
+#include "utils/url.h"
 #include "utils/log.h"
 #include "utils/messages.h"
 #include "utils/utils.h"