diff --git a/mopidy/backends/gstreamer.py b/mopidy/backends/gstreamer.py
index 7113a91d..53613877 100644
--- a/mopidy/backends/gstreamer.py
+++ b/mopidy/backends/gstreamer.py
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ class GStreamerBackend(BaseBackend):
         self.playback = GStreamerPlaybackController(self)
         self.stored_playlists = GStreamerStoredPlaylistsController(self)
         self.current_playlist = BaseCurrentPlaylistController(self)
+        self.uri_handlers = [u'file:']
 
 
 class GStreamerPlaybackController(BasePlaybackController):
diff --git a/tests/backends/gstreamer_test.py b/tests/backends/gstreamer_test.py
index b123b5b8..1eff6f38 100644
--- a/tests/backends/gstreamer_test.py
+++ b/tests/backends/gstreamer_test.py
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ class GStreamerPlaybackControllerTest(BasePlaybackControllerTest, unittest.TestC
         track = Track(uri=uri, id=1, length=4464)
         self.backend.current_playlist.add(track)
 
+    def test_uri_handler(self):
+        self.assert_('file:' in self.backend.uri_handlers)
+
     def test_play_mp3(self):
         self.add_track('blank.mp3')
         self.playback.play()