diff --git a/src/configobj/__init__.py b/src/configobj/__init__.py
index 928c208..16da19d 100644
--- a/src/configobj/__init__.py
+++ b/src/configobj/__init__.py
@@ -1212,7 +1212,7 @@ def _load(self, infile, configspec):
 
         if isinstance(infile, six.string_types):
             self.filename = infile
-            if os.path.isfile(infile):
+            if os.path.exists(infile) and not os.path.isdir(infile):
                 with open(infile, 'rb') as h:
                     content = h.readlines() or []
             elif self.file_error:
diff --git a/src/tests/conf_envsubst.py b/src/tests/conf_envsubst.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..be790de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/conf_envsubst.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import sys
+import configobj
+
+print(configobj.ConfigObj(sys.argv[1]))
diff --git a/src/tests/envsubst.ini.template b/src/tests/envsubst.ini.template
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..304e892
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/envsubst.ini.template
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Template test
+
+shell = ${SHELL}
+
diff --git a/src/tests/test_validate_envsubst.py b/src/tests/test_validate_envsubst.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bdbae18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/test_validate_envsubst.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# *- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# pylint: disable=wildcard-import, missing-docstring, no-self-use, bad-continuation
+# pylint: disable=invalid-name, redefined-outer-name, too-few-public-methods
+
+import os
+
+import pytest
+import subprocess
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def thisdir():
+    return os.path.dirname(os.path.join(os.getcwd(), __file__))
+
+
+def test_validate_template(thisdir,capsys):
+    templatepath = os.path.join(thisdir, 'envsubst.ini.template')
+    out = subprocess.check_output(["bash","-c","export SHELL=/bin/bash && python %s/conf_envsubst.py <(envsubst < %s)"%(thisdir,templatepath)])
+    assert out.decode() == "{'shell': '/bin/bash'}\n"