Index: trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/gui/MainApplication.java
===================================================================
--- trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/gui/MainApplication.java	(revision 13444)
+++ trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/gui/MainApplication.java	(revision 13445)
@@ -961,5 +961,5 @@
             for (String i : args.get(Option.LOAD_PREFERENCES)) {
                 try {
-                    URL url = i.contains("://") ? new URL(i) : Paths.get(i).toUri().toURL();
+                    URL url = i.contains(":/") ? new URL(i) : Paths.get(i).toUri().toURL();
                     Logging.info("Reading preferences from " + url);
                     try (InputStream is = Utils.openStream(url)) {