diff --git a/modules/juce_audio_processors/format_types/juce_VSTPluginFormat.cpp b/modules/juce_audio_processors/format_types/juce_VSTPluginFormat.cpp
index 1aa6bfdf5b..d34dd62cb7 100644
--- a/modules/juce_audio_processors/format_types/juce_VSTPluginFormat.cpp
+++ b/modules/juce_audio_processors/format_types/juce_VSTPluginFormat.cpp
@@ -2726,7 +2726,7 @@ AudioPluginInstance* VSTPluginFormat::createInstanceFromDescription (const Plugi
 
 bool VSTPluginFormat::fileMightContainThisPluginType (const String& fileOrIdentifier)
 {
-    const File f (fileOrIdentifier);
+    const File f (File::createFileWithoutCheckingPath (fileOrIdentifier));
 
   #if JUCE_MAC
     if (f.isDirectory() && f.hasFileExtension (".vst"))