diff --git a/lib/puppet-lint/checks.rb b/lib/puppet-lint/checks.rb
index 77b66e8e..f4c1fcff 100644
--- a/lib/puppet-lint/checks.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet-lint/checks.rb
@@ -54,10 +54,11 @@ def load_data(path, content)
   #
   # Returns an Array of problem Hashes.
   def run(fileinfo, data)
-    load_data(fileinfo, data)
-
     checks_run = []
     if File.extname(fileinfo).downcase.match?(%r{\.ya?ml$})
+      PuppetLint::Data.path = fileinfo
+      PuppetLint::Data.manifest_lines = data.split("\n", -1)
+
       enabled_checks.select { |check| YAML_COMPATIBLE_CHECKS.include?(check) }.each do |check|
         klass = PuppetLint.configuration.check_object[check].new
         # FIXME: shadowing #problems
@@ -65,6 +66,8 @@ def run(fileinfo, data)
         checks_run << [klass, problems]
       end
     else
+      load_data(fileinfo, data)
+
       enabled_checks.each do |check|
         klass = PuppetLint.configuration.check_object[check].new
         # FIXME: shadowing #problems
diff --git a/spec/acceptance/puppet_lint_spec.rb b/spec/acceptance/puppet_lint_spec.rb
index cd16fbcc..db620904 100644
--- a/spec/acceptance/puppet_lint_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/acceptance/puppet_lint_spec.rb
@@ -43,4 +43,11 @@
       expect(result[:stdout]).to have_warnings(2)
     end
   end
+
+  context 'with a YAML file provided' do
+    it 'returns zero errors' do
+      result = puppet_lint([File.join(manifest_root, 'parseable.yaml')])
+      expect(result[:stdout]).to have_errors(0)
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/test/manifests/parseable.yaml b/spec/fixtures/test/manifests/parseable.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c71c9402
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/test/manifests/parseable.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+---
+heredoc: |
+ contains $
diff --git a/spec/unit/puppet-lint/checks_spec.rb b/spec/unit/puppet-lint/checks_spec.rb
index 2ba1fa3c..c9a07eda 100644
--- a/spec/unit/puppet-lint/checks_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/puppet-lint/checks_spec.rb
@@ -223,11 +223,6 @@
       allow(File).to receive(:extname).with(fileinfo).and_return('.yaml')
     end
 
-    it 'loads the yaml data' do
-      expect(instance).to receive(:load_data).with(fileinfo, data).and_call_original # rubocop: disable RSpec/SubjectStub
-      instance.run(fileinfo, data)
-    end
-
     context 'when there are checks enabled' do
       let(:enabled_checks) { [:legacy_facts] }
       let(:enabled_check_classes) { enabled_checks.map { |r| PuppetLint.configuration.check_object[r] } }