diff --git a/io.go b/io.go
index 7db1e66..ac770f8 100644
--- a/io.go
+++ b/io.go
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ func loadURL(u *url.URL) (map[string]interface{}, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unsupported %q URL scheme", u.Scheme)
 	}
 
-	return loadFile(filepath.FromSlash(u.Path))
+	return loadFile(urlPathToOSPath(u.Path))
 }
 
 func loadFile(pth string) (map[string]interface{}, error) {
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 33c8844..775dcb6 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ func processFile(pth string, encode func(interface{}) error, debug *debugFlags)
 
 	err = ExpandRefs(&tmp, &url.URL{
 		//Scheme: "file",
-		Path: filepath.ToSlash(pth),
+		Path: osPathToURLPath(pth),
 	}, trace)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/refs.go b/refs.go
index 4c221bd..89604ab 100644
--- a/refs.go
+++ b/refs.go
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ func (l *loc) Index(i int) loc {
 
 func (l *loc) Rel(basePath string) loc {
 	// FIXME do not use FS dependent paths
-	rel, err := filepath.Rel(filepath.FromSlash(basePath), filepath.FromSlash(l.Path))
+	rel, err := filepath.Rel(urlPathToOSPath(basePath), urlPathToOSPath(l.Path))
 	if err != nil {
 		return *l
 	}
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ func (resolver *refResolver) resolve(link string, relativeTo *loc) (*node, error
 	rdoc, loaded := resolver.docs[targetLoc.Path]
 	if !loaded {
 		//log.Println("Loading", &targetLoc)
-		doc, err := loadFile(filepath.FromSlash(targetLoc.Path))
+		doc, err := loadFile(urlPathToOSPath(targetLoc.Path))
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("can't load %q: %v", targetLoc.Path, err)
 		}
@@ -629,7 +629,7 @@ func ExpandRefs(rdoc *interface{}, docURL *url.URL, trace func(string)) error {
 
 	path := path.Clean(docURL.Path)
 	resolver := refResolver{
-		basePath: filepath.ToSlash(cwd),
+		basePath: osPathToURLPath(cwd),
 		rootPath: path,
 		docs: map[string]*interface{}{
 			path: rdoc,
diff --git a/resolvepath.go b/resolvepath.go
index 5a2dfa3..a2467d7 100644
--- a/resolvepath.go
+++ b/resolvepath.go
@@ -4,7 +4,50 @@
 
 package main
 
-import "strings"
+import (
+	"path/filepath"
+	"runtime"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// osPathToURLPath converts a native absolute filesystem path (as returned by
+// filepath.Abs) into the "/"-rooted path convention used internally to
+// identify documents, which resolvePath always produces and expects as input.
+//
+// On POSIX this is a no-op beyond slash conversion, since native absolute
+// paths already start with "/". On Windows, native absolute paths start with
+// a drive letter (e.g. "C:\foo\bar") with no leading separator, so one is
+// added, matching the "file:///C:/foo/bar" URI convention.
+func osPathToURLPath(pth string) string {
+	pth = filepath.ToSlash(pth)
+	if pth == "" || pth[0] != '/' {
+		pth = "/" + pth
+	}
+	return pth
+}
+
+// isWindowsDriveAbs reports whether pth is an internal "/"-rooted path
+// wrapping a Windows drive-absolute path, e.g. "/C:/foo/bar".
+func isWindowsDriveAbs(pth string) bool {
+	return len(pth) >= 3 &&
+		pth[0] == '/' &&
+		(('a' <= pth[1] && pth[1] <= 'z') || ('A' <= pth[1] && pth[1] <= 'Z')) &&
+		pth[2] == ':' &&
+		(len(pth) == 3 || pth[3] == '/')
+}
+
+// urlPathToOSPath is the reverse of osPathToURLPath: it turns an internal
+// "/"-rooted document path back into a native OS path suitable for os.Open.
+//
+// On Windows, a path like "/C:/foo/bar" must have its leading "/" stripped
+// before the drive letter, or filepath.FromSlash would produce the invalid
+// "\C:\foo\bar".
+func urlPathToOSPath(pth string) string {
+	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" && isWindowsDriveAbs(pth) {
+		pth = pth[1:]
+	}
+	return filepath.FromSlash(pth)
+}
 
 // resolvePath applies special path segments from refs and applies
 // them to base, per RFC 3986.