diff --git a/m3u8/__init__.py b/m3u8/__init__.py
index d11dbf30..f6fc5174 100644
--- a/m3u8/__init__.py
+++ b/m3u8/__init__.py
@@ -90,7 +90,8 @@ def load(
     Retrieves the content from a given URI and returns a M3U8 object.
     Raises ValueError if invalid content or IOError if request fails.
     """
-    if urlsplit(uri).scheme:
+    base_uri_parts = urlsplit(uri)
+    if base_uri_parts.scheme and base_uri_parts.netloc:
         content, base_uri = http_client.download(uri, timeout, headers, verify_ssl)
         return M3U8(content, base_uri=base_uri, custom_tags_parser=custom_tags_parser)
     else:
diff --git a/m3u8/mixins.py b/m3u8/mixins.py
index 162b82a1..40ffb2fc 100644
--- a/m3u8/mixins.py
+++ b/m3u8/mixins.py
@@ -9,8 +9,10 @@ def absolute_uri(self):
             return None
 
         ret = urljoin(self.base_uri, self.uri)
-        if self.base_uri and (not urlsplit(self.base_uri).scheme):
-            return ret
+        if self.base_uri:
+            base_uri_parts = urlsplit(self.base_uri)
+            if (not base_uri_parts.scheme) and (not base_uri_parts.netloc):
+                return ret
 
         if not urlsplit(ret).scheme:
             raise ValueError("There can not be `absolute_uri` with no `base_uri` set")
diff --git a/tests/playlists.py b/tests/playlists.py
index 56c05f71..b2435d2e 100755
--- a/tests/playlists.py
+++ b/tests/playlists.py
@@ -1576,5 +1576,15 @@
 content-131.jpg
 """
 
+WINDOWS_PLAYLIST = r"""\
+#EXTM3U
+#EXT-X-VERSION:3
+#EXT-X-INDEPENDENT-SEGMENTS
+#EXT-X-TARGETDURATION:10
+#EXT-X-MEDIA-SEQUENCE:55119
+#EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME:2024-10-11T09:53:30.001Z
+#EXTINF:9.600,
+C:\HLS Video\test1.ts
+"""
 
 del abspath, dirname, join
diff --git a/tests/test_loader.py b/tests/test_loader.py
index 509b7714..db114c4e 100644
--- a/tests/test_loader.py
+++ b/tests/test_loader.py
@@ -5,8 +5,11 @@
 import os
 import socket
 import urllib.parse
-import m3u8
+import unittest.mock
+
 import pytest
+
+import m3u8
 import playlists
 
 
@@ -146,3 +149,14 @@ def test_raise_timeout_exception_if_timeout_happens_when_loading_from_uri():
         assert True
     else:
         assert False
+
+
+def test_windows_paths():
+    file_path = "C:\\HLS Video\test.m3ui8"
+    with unittest.mock.patch("builtins.open") as mock_open:
+        mock_open.return_value.__enter__.return_value.read.return_value = (
+            playlists.WINDOWS_PLAYLIST
+        )
+        obj = m3u8.load(file_path)
+    assert obj.segments[0].uri == "C:\\HLS Video\\test1.ts"
+    assert obj.segments[0].absolute_uri == "C:\\HLS Video\\test1.ts"