diff --git a/thriftpy/parser/parser.py b/thriftpy/parser/parser.py
index 26c6073..8c2bf75 100644
--- a/thriftpy/parser/parser.py
+++ b/thriftpy/parser/parser.py
@@ -544,7 +544,7 @@ def parse(path, module_name=None, include_dirs=None, include_dir=None,
     if url_scheme == 'file':
         with open(urlparse(path).netloc + urlparse(path).path) as fh:
             data = fh.read()
-    elif url_scheme == '':
+    elif url_scheme == '' or os.path.exists(path):
         with open(path) as fh:
             data = fh.read()
     elif url_scheme in ('http', 'https'):