diff --git a/lib/internal/process/pre_execution.js b/lib/internal/process/pre_execution.js
index 89b916a6ee66ae..0627b06be89c2b 100644
--- a/lib/internal/process/pre_execution.js
+++ b/lib/internal/process/pre_execution.js
@@ -606,7 +606,7 @@ function readPolicyFromDisk() {
     // no bare specifiers for now
     let manifestURL;
     if (require('path').isAbsolute(experimentalPolicy)) {
-      manifestURL = new URL(`file://${experimentalPolicy}`);
+      manifestURL = pathToFileURL(experimentalPolicy);
     } else {
       const cwdURL = pathToFileURL(process.cwd());
       cwdURL.pathname += '/';
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-policy-manifest.js b/test/parallel/test-policy-manifest.js
index 3f5057ff4a2cd4..3c4b1695d28835 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-policy-manifest.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-policy-manifest.js
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@ common.requireNoPackageJSONAbove();
 
 const assert = require('assert');
 const { spawnSync } = require('child_process');
+const { cpSync, rmSync } = require('fs');
 const fixtures = require('../common/fixtures.js');
+const tmpdir = require('../common/tmpdir.js');
 
 {
   const policyFilepath = fixtures.path('policy-manifest', 'invalid.json');
@@ -25,6 +27,23 @@ const fixtures = require('../common/fixtures.js');
   assert.match(stderr, /pattern needs to have a single trailing "\*"/);
 }
 
+{
+  tmpdir.refresh();
+  const policyFilepath = tmpdir.resolve('file with % in its name.json');
+  cpSync(fixtures.path('policy-manifest', 'invalid.json'), policyFilepath);
+  const result = spawnSync(process.execPath, [
+    '--experimental-policy',
+    policyFilepath,
+    './fhqwhgads.js',
+  ]);
+
+  assert.notStrictEqual(result.status, 0);
+  const stderr = result.stderr.toString();
+  assert.match(stderr, /ERR_MANIFEST_INVALID_SPECIFIER/);
+  assert.match(stderr, /pattern needs to have a single trailing "\*"/);
+  rmSync(policyFilepath);
+}
+
 {
   const policyFilepath = fixtures.path('policy-manifest', 'onerror-exit.json');
   const result = spawnSync(process.execPath, [