diff --git a/lib/library.cpp b/lib/library.cpp
index e8b6c40ef9c..828fd65af87 100644
--- a/lib/library.cpp
+++ b/lib/library.cpp
@@ -196,24 +196,20 @@ Library::Error Library::load(const char exename[], const char path[], bool debug
 
     const bool is_abs_path = Path::isAbsolute(path);
 
+    std::string fullfilename(path);
+
+    // TODO: what if the extension is not .cfg?
+    // only append extension when we provide the library name and not a path - TODO: handle relative paths?
+    if (!is_abs_path && Path::getFilenameExtension(fullfilename).empty())
+        fullfilename += ".cfg";
+
     std::string absolute_path;
     // open file..
     tinyxml2::XMLDocument doc;
     if (debug)
-        std::cout << "looking for library '" + std::string(path) + "'" << std::endl;
-    tinyxml2::XMLError error = xml_LoadFile(doc, path);
+        std::cout << "looking for library '" + fullfilename + "'" << std::endl;
+    tinyxml2::XMLError error = xml_LoadFile(doc, fullfilename.c_str());
     if (error == tinyxml2::XML_ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND) {
-        // failed to open file.. is there no extension?
-        std::string fullfilename(path);
-        if (Path::getFilenameExtension(fullfilename).empty()) {
-            fullfilename += ".cfg";
-            if (debug)
-                std::cout << "looking for library '" + fullfilename + "'" << std::endl;
-            error = xml_LoadFile(doc, fullfilename.c_str());
-            if (error != tinyxml2::XML_ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND)
-                absolute_path = Path::getAbsoluteFilePath(fullfilename);
-        }
-
         // only perform further lookups when the given path was not absolute
         if (!is_abs_path && error == tinyxml2::XML_ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND)
         {
@@ -240,7 +236,7 @@ Library::Error Library::load(const char exename[], const char path[], bool debug
             }
         }
     } else
-        absolute_path = Path::getAbsoluteFilePath(path);
+        absolute_path = Path::getAbsoluteFilePath(fullfilename);
 
     if (error == tinyxml2::XML_SUCCESS) {
         if (mData->mFiles.find(absolute_path) == mData->mFiles.end()) {
diff --git a/test/cli/lookup_test.py b/test/cli/lookup_test.py
index f22270b4cc0..f2a382a7f44 100644
--- a/test/cli/lookup_test.py
+++ b/test/cli/lookup_test.py
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ def test_lib_lookup(tmpdir):
     assert exitcode == 0, stdout if stdout else stderr
     lines = __remove_std_lookup_log(stdout.splitlines(), exepath)
     assert lines == [
-        "looking for library 'gnu'",
         "looking for library 'gnu.cfg'",
         "looking for library '{}/gnu.cfg'".format(exepath),
         "looking for library '{}/cfg/gnu.cfg'".format(exepath),
@@ -63,7 +62,6 @@ def test_lib_lookup_notfound(tmpdir):
     lines = __remove_std_lookup_log(stdout.splitlines(), exepath)
     assert lines == [
         # TODO: specify which folder is actually used for lookup here
-        "looking for library 'none'",  # TODO: this could conflict with the platform lookup
         "looking for library 'none.cfg'",
         # TODO: lookup of '{exepath}/none' missing - could conflict with the platform lookup though
         "looking for library '{}/none.cfg'".format(exepath),
@@ -126,7 +124,6 @@ def test_lib_lookup_relative_noext_notfound(tmpdir):
     assert exitcode == 1, stdout if stdout else stderr
     lines = __remove_std_lookup_log(stdout.splitlines(), exepath)
     assert lines == [
-        "looking for library 'config/gnu'",
         "looking for library 'config/gnu.cfg'",
         "looking for library '{}/config/gnu.cfg'".format(exepath),
         "looking for library '{}/cfg/config/gnu.cfg'".format(exepath),
@@ -186,8 +183,6 @@ def test_lib_lookup_nofile(tmpdir):
         pass
 
     # make sure we do not produce an error when the attempted lookup path is a directory and not a file
-    gtk_dir = os.path.join(tmpdir, 'gtk')
-    os.mkdir(gtk_dir)
     gtk_cfg_dir = os.path.join(tmpdir, 'gtk.cfg')
     os.mkdir(gtk_cfg_dir)
 
@@ -198,7 +193,6 @@ def test_lib_lookup_nofile(tmpdir):
     assert exitcode == 0, stdout if stdout else stderr
     lines = __remove_std_lookup_log(stdout.splitlines(), exepath)
     assert lines == [
-        "looking for library 'gtk'",
         "looking for library 'gtk.cfg'",
         "looking for library '{}/gtk.cfg'".format(exepath),
         "looking for library '{}/cfg/gtk.cfg'".format(exepath),
@@ -223,7 +217,6 @@ def test_lib_lookup_invalid(tmpdir):
     assert exitcode == 1, stdout if stdout else stderr
     lines = __remove_std_lookup_log(stdout.splitlines(), exepath)
     assert lines == [
-        "looking for library 'gnu'",
         "looking for library 'gnu.cfg'",
         "library not found: 'gnu'",
         "Error=XML_ERROR_PARSING_TEXT ErrorID=8 (0x8) Line number=1",  # TODO: log the failure before saying the library was not found
@@ -243,11 +236,9 @@ def test_lib_lookup_multi(tmpdir):
     assert exitcode == 0, stdout if stdout else stderr
     lines = __remove_std_lookup_log(stdout.splitlines(), exepath)
     assert lines == [
-        "looking for library 'posix'",
         "looking for library 'posix.cfg'",
         "looking for library '{}/posix.cfg'".format(exepath),
         "looking for library '{}/cfg/posix.cfg'".format(exepath),
-        "looking for library 'gnu'",
         "looking for library 'gnu.cfg'",
         "looking for library '{}/gnu.cfg'".format(exepath),
         "looking for library '{}/cfg/gnu.cfg'".format(exepath),