diff --git a/surf.c b/surf.c
index 2b54e3c..80b2c27 100644
--- a/surf.c
+++ b/surf.c
@@ -1687,6 +1687,24 @@ decideresource(WebKitPolicyDecision *d, Client *c)
 		return;
 	}
 
+	if (g_str_has_prefix(uri, "file://")) {
+		/* chop off the query/fragment part (RFC 3986) if any */
+		const gchar *uri_end = g_strstr_len(uri, -1, "?");
+
+		if (!uri_end)
+			uri_end = g_strstr_len(uri, -1, "#");
+
+		if (!uri_end)
+			uri_end = uri + strlen(uri);
+
+		if (!strncmp(uri_end - 5, ".html", 5) ||
+			!strncmp(uri_end - 4, ".htm", 4)) {
+			/* if this is an html file, open it locally */
+			webkit_policy_decision_use(d);
+			return;
+		}
+	}
+
 	if (!g_str_has_prefix(uri, "http://")
 	    && !g_str_has_prefix(uri, "https://")
 	    && !g_str_has_prefix(uri, "about:")