diff --git a/src/icon.c b/src/icon.c
index 164a618..1dbf0f2 100644
--- a/src/icon.c
+++ b/src/icon.c
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include "log.h"
 #include "notification.h"
 #include "settings.h"
+#include "utils.h"
 
 static bool is_readable_file(const char *filename)
 {
@@ -57,17 +58,21 @@ cairo_surface_t *gdk_pixbuf_to_cairo_surface(GdkPixbuf *pixbuf)
         return icon_surface;
 }
 
-static GdkPixbuf *get_pixbuf_from_file(const char *filename)
+GdkPixbuf *get_pixbuf_from_file(const char *filename)
 {
         GdkPixbuf *pixbuf = NULL;
-        if (is_readable_file(filename)) {
+        char *path = string_to_path(g_strdup(filename));
+
+        if (is_readable_file(path)) {
                 GError *error = NULL;
-                pixbuf = gdk_pixbuf_new_from_file(filename, &error);
+                pixbuf = gdk_pixbuf_new_from_file(path, &error);
                 if (!pixbuf) {
                         LOG_W("%s", error->message);
                         g_error_free(error);
                 }
         }
+
+        g_free(path);
         return pixbuf;
 }
 
@@ -89,10 +94,8 @@ GdkPixbuf *get_pixbuf_from_icon(const char *iconname)
         /* absolute path? */
         if (iconname[0] == '/' || iconname[0] == '~') {
                 pixbuf = get_pixbuf_from_file(iconname);
-        }
-
+        } else {
         /* search in icon_path */
-        if (!pixbuf) {
                 char *start = settings.icon_path,
                      *end, *current_folder, *maybe_icon_path;
                 do {
diff --git a/src/icon.h b/src/icon.h
index c314465..2b3d92a 100644
--- a/src/icon.h
+++ b/src/icon.h
@@ -8,6 +8,14 @@
 
 cairo_surface_t *gdk_pixbuf_to_cairo_surface(GdkPixbuf *pixbuf);
 
+/** Retrieve an icon by its full filepath.
+ *
+ * @param filename A string representing a readable file path
+ *
+ * @return an instance of `GdkPixbuf` or `NULL` if file does not exist
+ */
+GdkPixbuf *get_pixbuf_from_file(const char *filename);
+
 /** Retrieve an icon by its name sent via the notification bus
  *
  * @param iconname A string describing a `file://` URL, an arbitary filename
diff --git a/test/icon.c b/test/icon.c
index 5695a82..180a324 100644
--- a/test/icon.c
+++ b/test/icon.c
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 #include <gdk-pixbuf/gdk-pixbuf.h>
 #include <glib.h>
 
-#define ICONPREFIX "./data/icons/path"
+#define ICONPREFIX "/data/icons/path"
 
 /* As there are no hints to test if the loaded GdkPixbuf is
  * read from a PNG or an SVG file, the sample icons in the
@@ -14,6 +14,49 @@
 #define IS_ICON_PNG(pb)  4 == gdk_pixbuf_get_width(pb)
 #define IS_ICON_SVG(pb) 16 == gdk_pixbuf_get_width(pb)
 
+TEST test_get_pixbuf_from_file_tilde(void)
+{
+        char *cwd  = g_get_current_dir();
+        const char *home = g_get_home_dir();
+        const char *iconpath = ICONPREFIX;
+
+        if (0 != strncmp(home, cwd, strlen(home))) {
+                g_free(cwd);
+                SKIPm("Current directory is not a subdirectory from user's home."
+                      " Cannot test iconpath tilde expansion.\n");
+        }
+
+        gchar *path = g_build_filename(cwd, iconpath, "valid", "icon1.svg", NULL);
+        path = string_replace_at(path, 0, strlen(home), "~");
+
+        GdkPixbuf *pixbuf = get_pixbuf_from_file(path);
+        g_clear_pointer(&path, g_free);
+        g_clear_pointer(&cwd, g_free);
+
+        ASSERT(pixbuf);
+        ASSERTm("The wrong pixbuf is loaded in the icon file.", IS_ICON_SVG(pixbuf));
+        g_clear_pointer(&pixbuf, g_object_unref);
+        PASS();
+}
+
+TEST test_get_pixbuf_from_file_absolute(void)
+{
+        char *cwd  = g_get_current_dir();
+        const char *iconpath = ICONPREFIX;
+
+        gchar *path = g_build_filename(cwd, iconpath, "valid", "icon1.svg", NULL);
+
+        GdkPixbuf *pixbuf = get_pixbuf_from_file(path);
+        g_clear_pointer(&path, g_free);
+        g_clear_pointer(&cwd, g_free);
+
+        ASSERT(pixbuf);
+        ASSERTm("The wrong pixbuf is loaded in the icon file.", IS_ICON_SVG(pixbuf));
+        g_clear_pointer(&pixbuf, g_object_unref);
+
+        PASS();
+}
+
 TEST test_get_pixbuf_from_icon_invalid(void)
 {
         GdkPixbuf *pixbuf = get_pixbuf_from_icon("invalid");
@@ -82,10 +125,12 @@ TEST test_get_pixbuf_from_icon_fileuri(void)
 SUITE(suite_icon)
 {
         settings.icon_path =
-                    ICONPREFIX "/invalid"
-                ":" ICONPREFIX "/valid"
-                ":" ICONPREFIX "/both";
+                 "." ICONPREFIX "/invalid"
+                ":." ICONPREFIX "/valid"
+                ":." ICONPREFIX "/both";
 
+        RUN_TEST(test_get_pixbuf_from_file_tilde);
+        RUN_TEST(test_get_pixbuf_from_file_absolute);
         RUN_TEST(test_get_pixbuf_from_icon_invalid);
         RUN_TEST(test_get_pixbuf_from_icon_both);
         RUN_TEST(test_get_pixbuf_from_icon_onlysvg);