diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index 3a1cf25e..f68d6550 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 name = "FileIO"
 uuid = "5789e2e9-d7fb-5bc7-8068-2c6fae9b9549"
-version = "1.2.4"
+version = "1.3.0"
 
 [deps]
 Pkg = "44cfe95a-1eb2-52ea-b672-e2afdf69b78f"
@@ -9,8 +9,9 @@ Pkg = "44cfe95a-1eb2-52ea-b672-e2afdf69b78f"
 julia = "0.7, 1"
 
 [extras]
+FilePathsBase = "48062228-2e41-5def-b9a4-89aafe57970f"
 Random = "9a3f8284-a2c9-5f02-9a11-845980a1fd5c"
 Test = "8dfed614-e22c-5e08-85e1-65c5234f0b40"
 
 [targets]
-test = ["Test", "Random"]
+test = ["FilePathsBase", "Test", "Random"]
diff --git a/src/loadsave.jl b/src/loadsave.jl
index 177a89da..3b308b12 100755
--- a/src/loadsave.jl
+++ b/src/loadsave.jl
@@ -115,20 +115,17 @@ savestreaming
 # if a bare filename or IO stream are given, query for the format and dispatch
 # to the formatted handlers below
 for fn in (:load, :loadstreaming, :save, :savestreaming, :metadata)
-    @eval $fn(s::Union{AbstractString,IO}, args...; options...) =
-        $fn(query(s), args...; options...)
+    @eval $fn(file, args...; options...) = $fn(query(file), args...; options...)
 end
 
 # return a save function, so you can do `thing_to_save |> save("filename.ext")`
-function save(s::Union{AbstractString,IO}; options...)
-    data -> save(s, data; options...)
-end
+save(file; options...) = data -> save(file, data; options...)
 
 # Allow format to be overridden with first argument
-function save(df::Type{DataFormat{sym}}, f::AbstractString, data...; options...) where sym
+function save(df::Type{DataFormat{sym}}, filename, data...; options...) where sym
     libraries = applicable_savers(df)
     checked_import(libraries[1])
-    return Base.invokelatest(save, File(DataFormat{sym}, f), data...; options...)
+    return Base.invokelatest(save, File(DataFormat{sym}, filename), data...; options...)
 end
 
 function savestreaming(df::Type{DataFormat{sym}}, s::IO, data...; options...) where sym
@@ -143,10 +140,10 @@ function save(df::Type{DataFormat{sym}}, s::IO, data...; options...) where sym
     return Base.invokelatest(save, Stream(DataFormat{sym}, s), data...; options...)
 end
 
-function savestreaming(df::Type{DataFormat{sym}}, f::AbstractString, data...; options...) where sym
+function savestreaming(df::Type{DataFormat{sym}}, filename, data...; options...) where sym
     libraries = applicable_savers(df)
     checked_import(libraries[1])
-    return Base.invokelatest(savestreaming, File(DataFormat{sym}, f), data...; options...)
+    return Base.invokelatest(savestreaming, File(DataFormat{sym}, filename), data...; options...)
 end
 
 # do-syntax for streaming IO
diff --git a/src/query.jl b/src/query.jl
index bcb5caf7..cd4cb442 100644
--- a/src/query.jl
+++ b/src/query.jl
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ end
 `query(filename)` returns a `File` object with information about the
 format inferred from the file's extension and/or magic bytes.
 """
-function query(filename::AbstractString)
+function query(filename)
     _, ext = splitext(filename)
     if haskey(ext2sym, ext)
         sym = ext2sym[ext]
@@ -102,9 +102,7 @@ hasfunction(s::Tuple) = false #has magic
 `query(io, [filename])` returns a `Stream` object with information about the
 format inferred from the magic bytes.
 """
-query(io::IO, filename) = query(io, String(filename))
-
-function query(io::IO, filename::Union{Nothing, String} = nothing)
+function query(io::IO, filename = nothing)
     magic = Vector{UInt8}()
     pos = position(io)
     for p in magic_list
diff --git a/src/types.jl b/src/types.jl
index 92ffabca..af5d5a61 100644
--- a/src/types.jl
+++ b/src/types.jl
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ DataFormat `fmt`.  For example, `File{fmtpng}(filename)` would indicate a PNG
 file.
 """
 struct File{F<:DataFormat} <: Formatted{F}
-    filename::String
+    filename
 end
 File(fmt::Type{DataFormat{sym}}, filename) where {sym} = File{fmt}(filename)
 
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ be used to improve error messages, etc.
 """
 struct Stream{F <: DataFormat, IOtype <: IO} <: Formatted{F}
     io::IOtype
-    filename::Union{String, Nothing}
+    filename
 end
 
 Stream(::Type{F}, io::IO) where {F<:DataFormat} = Stream{F,typeof(io)}(io, nothing)
diff --git a/test/loadsave.jl b/test/loadsave.jl
index a8e3cba6..cc709876 100644
--- a/test/loadsave.jl
+++ b/test/loadsave.jl
@@ -22,7 +22,9 @@ try
     empty!(FileIO.sym2loader)
     empty!(FileIO.sym2saver)
     file_dir = joinpath(dirname(@__FILE__), "files")
-    @testset "Load" begin
+    file_path = Path(file_dir)
+
+    @testset "Load $(typeof(fp))" for fp in (file_dir, file_path)
 
         add_loader(format"PBMText", :TestLoadSave)
         add_loader(format"PBMBinary", :TestLoadSave)
@@ -30,22 +32,22 @@ try
         add_loader(format"JLD", :TestLoadSave)
         add_loader(format"GZIP", :TestLoadSave)
 
-        @test load(joinpath(file_dir,"file1.pbm")) == "PBMText"
-        @test load(joinpath(file_dir,"file2.pbm")) == "PBMBinary"
+        @test load(joinpath(fp,"file1.pbm")) == "PBMText"
+        @test load(joinpath(fp,"file2.pbm")) == "PBMBinary"
 
         # Regular HDF5 file with magic bytes starting at position 0
-        @test load(joinpath(file_dir,"file1.h5")) == "HDF5"
+        @test load(joinpath(fp,"file1.h5")) == "HDF5"
         # This one is actually a JLD file saved with an .h5 extension,
         # and the JLD magic bytes edited to prevent it from being recognized
         # as JLD.
         # JLD files are also HDF5 files, so this should be recognized as
         # HDF5. However, what makes this more interesting is that the
         # magic bytes start at position 512.
-        @test load(joinpath(file_dir,"file2.h5")) == "HDF5"
+        @test load(joinpath(fp,"file2.h5")) == "HDF5"
         # JLD file saved with .jld extension
-        @test load(joinpath(file_dir,"file.jld")) == "JLD"
+        @test load(joinpath(fp,"file.jld")) == "JLD"
         # GZIP file saved with .gz extension
-        @test load(joinpath(file_dir,"file.csv.gz")) == "GZIP"
+        @test load(joinpath(fp,"file.csv.gz")) == "GZIP"
         @test_throws Exception load("missing.fmt")
     end
 finally
diff --git a/test/query.jl b/test/query.jl
index bfb51e03..3ffcdc56 100644
--- a/test/query.jl
+++ b/test/query.jl
@@ -266,82 +266,87 @@ finally
     merge!(FileIO.sym2info, sym2info)
 end
 
-file_dir = joinpath(dirname(@__FILE__), "files")
-@testset "bedGraph" begin
-    q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "file.bedgraph"))
-    @test typeof(q) == File{format"bedGraph"}
-    open(q) do io
-        @test position(io) == 0
-        skipmagic(io)
-        @test position(io) == 0 # no skipping for functions
-        # @test FileIO.detect_bedgraph(io) # MethodError: no method matching readline(::FileIO.Stream{FileIO.DataFormat{:bedGraph},IOStream}; chomp=false)
-    end
-    open(joinpath(file_dir, "file.bedgraph")) do io
-        @test (FileIO.detect_bedgraph(io))
+file_dir = joinpath(@__DIR__, "files")
+file_path = Path(file_dir)
+
+@testset "Querying with $(typeof(fp))" for fp in (file_dir, file_path)
+    @testset "bedGraph" begin
+        q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "file.bedgraph"))
+        @test typeof(q) == File{format"bedGraph"}
+        open(q) do io
+            @test position(io) == 0
+            skipmagic(io)
+            @test position(io) == 0 # no skipping for functions
+            # @test FileIO.detect_bedgraph(io) # MethodError: no method matching readline(::FileIO.Stream{FileIO.DataFormat{:bedGraph},IOStream}; chomp=false)
+        end
+        open(joinpath(file_dir, "file.bedgraph")) do io
+            @test (FileIO.detect_bedgraph(io))
+        end
     end
-end
-@testset "STL detection" begin
-    q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "ascii.stl"))
-    @test typeof(q) == File{format"STL_ASCII"}
-    q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "binary_stl_from_solidworks.STL"))
-    @test typeof(q) == File{format"STL_BINARY"}
-    open(q) do io
-        @test position(io) == 0
-        skipmagic(io)
-        @test position(io) == 0 # no skipping for functions
+    @testset "STL detection" begin
+        q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "ascii.stl"))
+        @test typeof(q) == File{format"STL_ASCII"}
+        q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "binary_stl_from_solidworks.STL"))
+        @test typeof(q) == File{format"STL_BINARY"}
+        open(q) do io
+            @test position(io) == 0
+            skipmagic(io)
+            @test position(io) == 0 # no skipping for functions
+        end
     end
-end
-@testset "PLY detection" begin
-    q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "ascii.ply"))
-    @test typeof(q) == File{format"PLY_ASCII"}
-    q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "binary.ply"))
-    @test typeof(q) == File{format"PLY_BINARY"}
+    @testset "PLY detection" begin
+        q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "ascii.ply"))
+        @test typeof(q) == File{format"PLY_ASCII"}
+        q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "binary.ply"))
+        @test typeof(q) == File{format"PLY_BINARY"}
 
-end
-@testset "Multiple Magic bytes" begin
-    q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "magic1.tiff"))
-    @test typeof(q) == File{format"TIFF"}
-    q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "magic2.tiff"))
-    @test typeof(q) == File{format"TIFF"}
-    open(q) do io
-        @test position(io) == 0
-        skipmagic(io)
-        @test position(io) == 4
     end
-end
-@testset "AVI Detection" begin
-    open(joinpath(file_dir, "bees.avi")) do s
-        @test FileIO.detectavi(s)
-    end
-    open(joinpath(file_dir, "sin.wav")) do s
-        @test !(FileIO.detectavi(s))
+    @testset "Multiple Magic bytes" begin
+        q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "magic1.tiff"))
+        @test typeof(q) == File{format"TIFF"}
+        q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "magic2.tiff"))
+        @test typeof(q) == File{format"TIFF"}
+        open(q) do io
+            @test position(io) == 0
+            skipmagic(io)
+            @test position(io) == 4
+        end
     end
-    open(joinpath(file_dir, "magic1.tiff")) do s
-        @test !(FileIO.detectavi(s))
+    @testset "AVI Detection" begin
+        open(joinpath(file_dir, "bees.avi")) do s
+            @test FileIO.detectavi(s)
+        end
+        open(joinpath(file_dir, "sin.wav")) do s
+            @test !(FileIO.detectavi(s))
+        end
+        open(joinpath(file_dir, "magic1.tiff")) do s
+            @test !(FileIO.detectavi(s))
+        end
+        q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "bees.avi"))
+        @test typeof(q) == File{format"AVI"}
     end
-    q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "bees.avi"))
-    @test typeof(q) == File{format"AVI"}
-end
-@testset "RDA detection" begin
-    q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "minimal_ascii.rda"))
-    @test typeof(q) == File{format"RData"}
-    open(q) do io
-        @test position(io) == 0
-        @test FileIO.detect_rdata(io)
-        # 6 for /r/n  and 5 for /n
-        @test (position(io) in (5, 6))
+    @testset "RDA detection" begin
+        q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "minimal_ascii.rda"))
+        @test typeof(q) == File{format"RData"}
+        open(q) do io
+            @test position(io) == 0
+            @test FileIO.detect_rdata(io)
+            # 6 for /r/n  and 5 for /n
+            @test (position(io) in (5, 6))
+        end
     end
-end
-@testset "RDS detection" begin
-    q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "minimal_ascii.rds"))
-    @test typeof(q) == File{format"RDataSingle"}
-    open(q) do io
-        @test position(io) == 0
-        @test FileIO.detect_rdata_single(io)
-        # need to seek to beginning of file where data structure starts
-        @test position(io)  == 0
+    @testset "RDS detection" begin
+        q = query(joinpath(file_dir, "minimal_ascii.rds"))
+        @test typeof(q) == File{format"RDataSingle"}
+        open(q) do io
+            @test position(io) == 0
+            @test FileIO.detect_rdata_single(io)
+            # need to seek to beginning of file where data structure starts
+            @test position(io)  == 0
+        end
     end
 end
+
 @testset "Format with function for magic bytes" begin
     add_format(format"FUNCTION_FOR_MAGIC_BYTES", x -> 0x00, ".wav", [:WAV])
     del_format(format"FUNCTION_FOR_MAGIC_BYTES")
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index cb528919..aa39fb21 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 using FileIO
+using FilePathsBase
 using Test
 
+# Both FileIO and FilePathsBase export filename, but we only want the FileIO definition.
+using FileIO: filename
+
 struct MimeSaveTestType
 end
 
diff --git a/test/test_mimesave.jl b/test/test_mimesave.jl
index 08a5b1ee..ac44f456 100644
--- a/test/test_mimesave.jl
+++ b/test/test_mimesave.jl
@@ -30,21 +30,22 @@ end
 
 data = MimeSaveTestType()
 
-output_filename = tempname()
+# Test with string and paths
+for output_filename in (tempname(), tmpname())
+    for filetype in [".svg", ".pdf", ".eps", ".png", ".html"]
 
-for filetype in [".svg", ".pdf", ".eps", ".png", ".html"]
+        try
+            save(output_filename * filetype, data)
 
-    try
-        save(output_filename * filetype, data)
+            content_original = read(joinpath(@__DIR__, "files", "mimesavetest$filetype"))
+            content_new = read(output_filename * filetype)
 
-        content_original = read(joinpath(@__DIR__, "files", "mimesavetest$filetype"))
-        content_new = read(output_filename * filetype)
+            @test content_new == content_original
+        finally
+            isfile(output_filename * filetype) && rm(output_filename * filetype)
+        end
 
-        @test content_new == content_original
-    finally
-        isfile(output_filename * filetype) && rm(output_filename * filetype)
     end
-
 end
 
 end