diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6faf121..de0e2f7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -55,6 +55,11 @@ You can also use command line to provide these options to cucumber-android. Here
 android.defaultConfig.testInstrumentationRunner "cucumber.cukeulator.test.CukeulatorAndroidJUnitRunner"
 ```
 
+### File-based tests
+
+If, for some reason, you need to load features from the filesystem, use an absolute path when specifying the features options to @CucumberOptions (e.g. `features = "/data/local/tmp"`).
+
+It is up to you to ensure your instrumentation has permission to read from the filesystem. You may need to add something like `<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />` to your AndroidManifest.xml.
 
 ### Debugging
 Please read [the Android documentation on debugging](https://developer.android.com/tools/debugging/index.html).
diff --git a/cucumber-android/src/main/java/cucumber/runtime/android/AndroidResourceLoader.java b/cucumber-android/src/main/java/cucumber/runtime/android/AndroidResourceLoader.java
index fd1b590..8bcac3d 100644
--- a/cucumber-android/src/main/java/cucumber/runtime/android/AndroidResourceLoader.java
+++ b/cucumber-android/src/main/java/cucumber/runtime/android/AndroidResourceLoader.java
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import cucumber.runtime.CucumberException;
 import cucumber.runtime.io.Resource;
 import cucumber.runtime.io.ResourceLoader;
+import cucumber.runtime.io.MultiLoader;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.URI;
@@ -26,17 +27,37 @@ final class AndroidResourceLoader implements ResourceLoader {
      */
     private final Context context;
 
+    /**
+     * The {@link MultiLoader} to get the resources from.
+     */
+    private final MultiLoader multiLoader;
+
     /**
      * Creates a new instance for the given parameter.
      *
      * @param context the {@link Context} to get resources from
      */
     AndroidResourceLoader(final Context context) {
+        this(context, new MultiLoader(context.getClassLoader()));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new instance for the given parameter.
+     *
+     * @param context the {@link Context} to get resources from
+     * @param multiLoader the {@link Context} to get resources from
+     */
+    AndroidResourceLoader(final Context context, final MultiLoader multiLoader) {
         this.context = context;
+        this.multiLoader = multiLoader;
     }
 
     @Override
     public Iterable<Resource> resources(final URI path, final String suffix) {
+        if (path.getScheme().equals("file") && path.getRawSchemeSpecificPart().startsWith("/")) {
+            return multiLoader.resources(path, suffix);
+        }
+
         try {
             final List<Resource> resources = new ArrayList<>();
             final AssetManager assetManager = context.getAssets();
diff --git a/cucumber-android/src/test/java/cucumber/runtime/android/AndroidResourceLoaderTest.java b/cucumber-android/src/test/java/cucumber/runtime/android/AndroidResourceLoaderTest.java
index 1ca87bc..4f301ee 100644
--- a/cucumber-android/src/test/java/cucumber/runtime/android/AndroidResourceLoaderTest.java
+++ b/cucumber-android/src/test/java/cucumber/runtime/android/AndroidResourceLoaderTest.java
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import android.content.Context;
 import android.content.res.AssetManager;
 import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
+import cucumber.runtime.io.MultiLoader;
 import cucumber.runtime.io.Resource;
 import org.hamcrest.Description;
 import org.hamcrest.Matcher;
@@ -15,6 +16,7 @@
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.URI;
+import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.hasItem;
@@ -30,7 +32,12 @@ public class AndroidResourceLoaderTest {
 
     private final Context context = mock(Context.class);
     private final AssetManager assetManager = mock(AssetManager.class, RETURNS_SMART_NULLS);
-    private final AndroidResourceLoader androidResourceLoader = new AndroidResourceLoader(context);
+    private final MultiLoader multiLoader = mock(MultiLoader.class, RETURNS_SMART_NULLS);
+    private final Resource fileResource1 = mock(Resource.class, RETURNS_SMART_NULLS);
+    private final Resource fileResource2 = mock(Resource.class, RETURNS_SMART_NULLS);
+    private Iterable<Resource> fileResources = mock(Iterable.class, RETURNS_SMART_NULLS);
+    private Iterator<Resource> fileResourcesIterator = mock(Iterator.class, RETURNS_SMART_NULLS);
+    private final AndroidResourceLoader androidResourceLoader = new AndroidResourceLoader(context, multiLoader);
 
     @Before
     public void beforeEachTest() {
@@ -94,6 +101,81 @@ public void only_retrieves_those_resources_which_end_the_specified_suffix() thro
         assertThat(resources, hasItem(withPath(path + "/" + expected)));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void retrieves_file_resources_with_an_absolute_path() throws IOException {
+        // given
+        final String path = "file:/dir";
+        final String dir = "dir";
+        final String dirFile = "dir.feature";
+        final String subDir = "subdir";
+        final String subDirFile = "subdir.feature";
+        final String suffix = "feature";
+
+        when(fileResource1.getPath()).thenReturn(URI.create(path + "/" + dirFile));
+        when(fileResource2.getPath()).thenReturn(URI.create(path + "/" + subDir + "/" + subDirFile));
+        when(fileResourcesIterator.hasNext()).thenReturn(Boolean.TRUE, Boolean.TRUE, Boolean.FALSE);
+        when(fileResourcesIterator.next()).thenReturn(fileResource1, fileResource2);
+        when(fileResources.iterator()).thenReturn(fileResourcesIterator);
+        when(multiLoader.resources(URI.create(path), suffix)).thenReturn(fileResources);
+
+        // when
+        final List<Resource> resources = Lists.newArrayList(androidResourceLoader.resources(URI.create(path), suffix));
+
+        // then
+        assertThat(resources.size(), is(2));
+        assertThat(resources, hasItem(withPath(path + "/" + dirFile)));
+        assertThat(resources, hasItem(withPath(path + "/" + subDir + "/" + subDirFile)));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void only_retrieves_android_resources_with_a_relative_path() throws IOException {
+        // given
+        final String dir = "dir";
+        String absPath = "file:/" + dir;
+        String relPath = "file:" + dir;
+        final String expected = "expected.feature";
+        final String unexpected = "unexpected.feature";
+        final String suffix = "feature";
+
+        when(assetManager.list(dir)).thenReturn(new String[]{expected});
+        when(fileResource1.getPath()).thenReturn(URI.create(absPath + "/" + unexpected));
+        when(fileResourcesIterator.hasNext()).thenReturn(Boolean.TRUE, Boolean.FALSE);
+        when(fileResourcesIterator.next()).thenReturn(fileResource1);
+        when(fileResources.iterator()).thenReturn(fileResourcesIterator);
+        when(multiLoader.resources(URI.create(absPath), suffix)).thenReturn(fileResources);
+
+        // when
+        final List<Resource> resources = Lists.newArrayList(androidResourceLoader.resources(URI.create(relPath), suffix));
+
+        // then
+        assertThat(resources.size(), is(1));
+        assertThat(resources, hasItem(withPath(relPath + "/" + expected)));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void only_retrieves_file_resources_with_an_absolute_path() throws IOException {
+        // given
+        final String dir = "dir";
+        String absPath = "file:/" + dir;
+        final String expected = "expected.feature";
+        final String unexpected = "unexpected.feature";
+        final String suffix = "feature";
+
+        when(fileResource1.getPath()).thenReturn(URI.create(absPath + "/" + expected));
+        when(fileResourcesIterator.hasNext()).thenReturn(Boolean.TRUE, Boolean.FALSE);
+        when(fileResourcesIterator.next()).thenReturn(fileResource1);
+        when(fileResources.iterator()).thenReturn(fileResourcesIterator);
+        when(multiLoader.resources(URI.create(absPath), suffix)).thenReturn(fileResources);
+        when(assetManager.list(dir)).thenReturn(new String[]{unexpected});
+
+        // when
+        final List<Resource> resources = Lists.newArrayList(androidResourceLoader.resources(URI.create(absPath), suffix));
+
+        // then
+        assertThat(resources.size(), is(1));
+        assertThat(resources, hasItem(withPath(absPath + "/" + expected)));
+    }
+
     private static Matcher<? super Resource> withPath(final String path) {
         return new TypeSafeMatcher<Resource>() {
             @Override