diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/pdf/writer.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/pdf/writer.py
index bf11394c02..e10c13d7d3 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/pdf/writer.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/pdf/writer.py
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ class PDFWriter(QObject):
         self.logger.debug('Processing %s...' % item)
 
         #self.view.load(QUrl(item))
-        self.view.setHtml(open(item, 'r+b').read().decode('utf-8'), QUrl(item))
+        self.view.setHtml(open(item, 'r+b').read().decode('utf-8'), QUrl.fromLocalFile(item))
 
     def _render_html(self, ok):
         if ok: