diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/dnd.py b/src/calibre/gui2/dnd.py
index fbeb64ec8c..b31a9555cd 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/dnd.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/dnd.py
@@ -12,12 +12,12 @@ from threading import Thread
 from PyQt5.Qt import QPixmap, Qt, QDialog, QLabel, QVBoxLayout, \
         QDialogButtonBox, QProgressBar, QTimer, QUrl, QImageReader
 
-from calibre.constants import DEBUG, iswindows
+from calibre.constants import DEBUG
 from calibre.ptempfile import PersistentTemporaryFile
 from calibre import browser, as_unicode, prints
 from calibre.gui2 import error_dialog
 from calibre.utils.imghdr import what
-from polyglot.builtins import unicode_type, as_unicode as as_unicode_polyglot
+from polyglot.builtins import unicode_type
 from polyglot.urllib import unquote, urlparse
 from polyglot.queue import Queue, Empty
 
@@ -158,13 +158,7 @@ def urls_from_md(md):
 
 
 def path_from_qurl(qurl):
-    raw = bytes(qurl.toEncoded(
-        QUrl.PreferLocalFile | QUrl.RemoveScheme | QUrl.RemovePassword | QUrl.RemoveUserInfo |
-        QUrl.RemovePort | QUrl.RemoveAuthority | QUrl.RemoveQuery | QUrl.RemoveFragment))
-    ans = as_unicode_polyglot(unquote(raw), errors='replace')
-    if iswindows and ans.startswith('/'):
-        ans = ans[1:]
-    return ans
+    return qurl.toLocalFile()
 
 
 def remote_urls_from_qurl(qurls, allowed_exts):
@@ -174,6 +168,10 @@ def remote_urls_from_qurl(qurls, allowed_exts):
             yield bytes(qurl.toEncoded()).decode('utf-8'), posixpath.basename(qurl.path())
 
 
+def extension(path):
+    return path.rpartition('.')[-1].lower()
+
+
 def dnd_has_extension(md, extensions, allow_all_extensions=False):
     if DEBUG:
         prints('\nDebugging DND event')
@@ -186,7 +184,7 @@ def dnd_has_extension(md, extensions, allow_all_extensions=False):
         return True
     urls = urls_from_md(md)
     paths = [path_from_qurl(u) for u in urls]
-    exts = frozenset([posixpath.splitext(u)[1][1:].lower() for u in paths if u])
+    exts = frozenset(filter(None, (extension(u) for u in paths if u)))
     if DEBUG:
         repr_urls = [bytes(u.toEncoded()).decode('utf-8') for u in urls]
         prints('URLS:', repr(repr_urls))
@@ -222,9 +220,7 @@ def dnd_get_local_image_and_pixmap(md, image_exts=None):
     urls = urls_from_md(md)
     paths = [path_from_qurl(u) for u in urls]
     # Look for a local file
-    images = [xi for xi in paths if
-            posixpath.splitext(unquote(xi))[1][1:].lower() in
-            image_exts]
+    images = [xi for xi in paths if extension(xi) in image_exts]
     images = [xi for xi in images if os.path.exists(xi)]
     for path in images:
         try:
@@ -282,7 +278,7 @@ def dnd_get_files(md, exts, allow_all_extensions=False, filter_exts=()):
     local_files = [path_from_qurl(x) for x in urls]
 
     def is_ok(path):
-        ext = posixpath.splitext(path)[1][1:].lower()
+        ext = extension(path)
         if allow_all_extensions and ext and ext not in filter_exts:
             return True
         return ext in exts and ext not in filter_exts