diff --git a/src/gnome-utils/gnc-gnome-utils.c b/src/gnome-utils/gnc-gnome-utils.c
index 02bed117d8..d0e5b9f977 100644
--- a/src/gnome-utils/gnc-gnome-utils.c
+++ b/src/gnome-utils/gnc-gnome-utils.c
@@ -430,19 +430,31 @@ gnc_launch_assoc (const char *uri)
 void
 gnc_launch_assoc (const char *uri)
 {
-    wchar_t *winuri = (wchar_t *)g_utf8_to_utf16(uri, -1, NULL, NULL, NULL);
-    wchar_t *wincmd = (wchar_t *)g_utf8_to_utf16("open", -1, NULL, NULL, NULL);
+    wchar_t *winuri = NULL;
+    /* ShellExecuteW open doesn't decode http escapes if it's passed a
+     * file URI so we have to do it. */
+    if (strcmp (g_uri_parse_scheme(uri), "file") == 0)
+    {
+	gchar *filename = g_filename_from_uri (uri, NULL, NULL);
+	winuri = (wchar_t *)g_utf8_to_utf16(filename, -1, NULL, NULL, NULL);
+    }
+    else
+	winuri = (wchar_t *)g_utf8_to_utf16(uri, -1, NULL, NULL, NULL);
+
     if (winuri)
     {
-        if ((INT_PTR)ShellExecuteW(NULL, wincmd, winuri, NULL, NULL, SW_SHOWNORMAL) <= 32)
-        {
-            const gchar *message =
-                _("GnuCash could not find the associated file.");
-            gnc_error_dialog(NULL, "%s", message);
-        }
-        g_free (winuri);
+	wchar_t *wincmd = (wchar_t *)g_utf8_to_utf16("open", -1,
+						     NULL, NULL, NULL);
+	if ((INT_PTR)ShellExecuteW(NULL, wincmd, winuri,
+				   NULL, NULL, SW_SHOWNORMAL) <= 32)
+	{
+	    const gchar *message =
+		_("GnuCash could not find the associated file");
+	    gnc_error_dialog(NULL, "%s: %s", message, uri);
+	}
+	g_free (wincmd);
+	g_free (winuri);
     }
-    g_free (wincmd);
 }
 
 #else