diff --git a/lib/vagrant/downloaders/file.rb b/lib/vagrant/downloaders/file.rb
index 0f54c5ec1..829803075 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/downloaders/file.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/downloaders/file.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ module Vagrant
     # simply does a file copy.
     class File < Base
       def self.match?(uri)
-        ::File.exists?(uri)
+        ::File.file?(::File.expand_path(uri))
       end
 
       def prepare(source_url)
diff --git a/test/unit/vagrant/downloaders/file_test.rb b/test/unit/vagrant/downloaders/file_test.rb
index be5d29cef..170fe8989 100644
--- a/test/unit/vagrant/downloaders/file_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/vagrant/downloaders/file_test.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 require File.expand_path("../../../base", __FILE__)
 
+require "tempfile"
+
 describe Vagrant::Downloaders::File do
   let(:ui) { double("ui") }
   let(:instance) { described_class.new(ui) }
@@ -12,6 +14,23 @@ describe Vagrant::Downloaders::File do
     it "should not match non-existent files" do
       described_class.match?(File.join(__FILE__, "nowaywaywaywayayway")).should_not be
     end
+
+    it "should match files where the path needs to be expanded" do
+      old_home = ENV["HOME"]
+      begin
+        # Create a temporary file
+        temp = Tempfile.new("vagrant")
+
+        # Set our home directory to be this directory so we can use
+        # "~" paths
+        ENV["HOME"] = File.dirname(temp.path)
+
+        # Test that we can find the temp file
+        described_class.match?("~/#{File.basename(temp.path)}").should be
+      ensure
+        ENV["HOME"] = old_home
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   describe "preparing" do
@@ -28,6 +47,24 @@ describe Vagrant::Downloaders::File do
 
       expect { instance.prepare(path) }.to raise_error(Vagrant::Errors::DownloaderFileDoesntExist)
     end
+
+    it "should find files that use shell expansions" do
+      old_home = ENV["HOME"]
+      begin
+        # Create a temporary file
+        temp = Tempfile.new("vagrant")
+
+        # Set our home directory to be this directory so we can use
+        # "~" paths
+        ENV["HOME"] = File.dirname(temp.path)
+
+        # Test that we can find the temp file
+        expect { instance.prepare("~/#{File.basename(temp.path)}") }.
+          to_not raise_error
+      ensure
+        ENV["HOME"] = old_home
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   describe "downloading" do