diff --git a/bin/cmd.js b/bin/cmd.js
index a6034ee..38df0e0 100755
--- a/bin/cmd.js
+++ b/bin/cmd.js
@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@ function loadPatch(uri, cb) {
   var h = http
   if (~uri.protocol.indexOf('https')) {
     h = https
+  } else if (~uri.protocol.indexOf('file:')) {
+    return fs.readFile(uri.pathname, (err, data) => {
+      if (err) return cb(err)
+      return cb(null, data.toString('utf-8'))
+    })
   }
   uri.headers = {
     'user-agent': 'core-validate-commit'
diff --git a/bin/usage.txt b/bin/usage.txt
index 0e2efba..6ff6082 100644
--- a/bin/usage.txt
+++ b/bin/usage.txt
@@ -25,3 +25,8 @@ core-validate-commit - Validate the commit message for a particular commit in no
     Passing a url to a specific sha on github:
 
     $ core-validate-commit https://api.github.com/repos/nodejs/node/git/commits/9e9d499b8be8ffc6050db25129b042507d7b4b02
+
+    Passing a file containing a single commit message:
+
+    $ core-validate-commit file:///tmp/commitmsg.txt
+