diff --git a/jsonLoader.go b/jsonLoader.go
index 4f57ff7..5d88af2 100644
--- a/jsonLoader.go
+++ b/jsonLoader.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
+	"net/url"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
@@ -145,6 +146,12 @@ func (l *jsonReferenceLoader) LoadJSON() (interface{}, error) {
 	if reference.HasFileScheme {
 
 		filename := strings.TrimPrefix(refToURL.String(), "file://")
+		filename, err = url.QueryUnescape(filename)
+
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+
 		if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
 			// on Windows, a file URL may have an extra leading slash, use slashes
 			// instead of backslashes, and have spaces escaped
diff --git a/schema_test.go b/schema_test.go
index 102e887..c05ddf0 100644
--- a/schema_test.go
+++ b/schema_test.go
@@ -272,6 +272,22 @@ func TestFragmentLoader(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestFileWithSpace(t *testing.T) {
+	wd, err := os.Getwd()
+
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err.Error())
+	}
+
+	fileName := filepath.Join(wd, "testdata", "extra", "file with space.json")
+	loader := NewReferenceLoader("file://" + filepath.ToSlash(fileName))
+
+	json, err := loader.LoadJSON()
+
+	assert.Nil(t, err, "Unexpected error when trying to load a filepath containing a space")
+	assert.Equal(t, map[string]interface{}{"foo": true}, json, "Contents of the file do not match")
+}
+
 func TestAdditionalPropertiesErrorMessage(t *testing.T) {
 	schema := `{
   "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
diff --git a/testdata/extra/file with space.json b/testdata/extra/file with space.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..de33b4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/extra/file with space.json	
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"foo": true}