diff --git a/src/windows/classes/sun/awt/windows/WDesktopPeer.java b/src/windows/classes/sun/awt/windows/WDesktopPeer.java
index a7ddc1425ec4a854b3cd58e4d1980a22cbaeae76..8661f61cc23604e0d664dc9a199e5172fac36c17 100644
--- a/src/windows/classes/sun/awt/windows/WDesktopPeer.java
+++ b/src/windows/classes/sun/awt/windows/WDesktopPeer.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2005, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2005, 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -51,15 +51,15 @@ public class WDesktopPeer implements DesktopPeer {
     }
 
     public void open(File file) throws IOException {
-        this.ShellExecute(file.toURI(), ACTION_OPEN_VERB);
+        this.ShellExecute(file, ACTION_OPEN_VERB);
     }
 
     public void edit(File file) throws IOException {
-        this.ShellExecute(file.toURI(), ACTION_EDIT_VERB);
+        this.ShellExecute(file, ACTION_EDIT_VERB);
     }
 
     public void print(File file) throws IOException {
-        this.ShellExecute(file.toURI(), ACTION_PRINT_VERB);
+        this.ShellExecute(file, ACTION_PRINT_VERB);
     }
 
     public void mail(URI uri) throws IOException {
@@ -70,6 +70,13 @@ public class WDesktopPeer implements DesktopPeer {
         this.ShellExecute(uri, ACTION_OPEN_VERB);
     }
 
+    private void ShellExecute(File file, String verb) throws IOException {
+        String errMsg = ShellExecute(file.getAbsolutePath(), verb);
+        if (errMsg != null) {
+            throw new IOException("Failed to " + verb + " " + file + ". Error message: " + errMsg);
+        }
+    }
+
     private void ShellExecute(URI uri, String verb) throws IOException {
         String errmsg = ShellExecute(uri.toString(), verb);
 
@@ -79,6 +86,6 @@ public class WDesktopPeer implements DesktopPeer {
         }
     }
 
-    private static native String ShellExecute(String uri, String verb);
+    private static native String ShellExecute(String fileOrUri, String verb);
 
 }
diff --git a/src/windows/native/sun/windows/awt_Desktop.cpp b/src/windows/native/sun/windows/awt_Desktop.cpp
index 5db6c4bbcec39dc979258c657e067df86566e37a..623718e42e176f9617147ec7422018cf538b7ea1 100644
--- a/src/windows/native/sun/windows/awt_Desktop.cpp
+++ b/src/windows/native/sun/windows/awt_Desktop.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2005, 2010, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2005, 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -38,17 +38,17 @@ extern "C" {
  * Signature: (Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/String;)Ljava/lang/String;
  */
 JNIEXPORT jstring JNICALL Java_sun_awt_windows_WDesktopPeer_ShellExecute
-  (JNIEnv *env, jclass cls, jstring uri_j, jstring verb_j)
+  (JNIEnv *env, jclass cls, jstring fileOrUri_j, jstring verb_j)
 {
-    LPCWSTR uri_c = JNU_GetStringPlatformChars(env, uri_j, JNI_FALSE);
+    LPCWSTR fileOrUri_c = JNU_GetStringPlatformChars(env, fileOrUri_j, JNI_FALSE);
     LPCWSTR verb_c = JNU_GetStringPlatformChars(env, verb_j, JNI_FALSE);
 
     // 6457572: ShellExecute possibly changes FPU control word - saving it here
     unsigned oldcontrol87 = _control87(0, 0);
-    HINSTANCE retval = ::ShellExecute(NULL, verb_c, uri_c, NULL, NULL, SW_SHOWNORMAL);
+    HINSTANCE retval = ::ShellExecute(NULL, verb_c, fileOrUri_c, NULL, NULL, SW_SHOWNORMAL);
     _control87(oldcontrol87, 0xffffffff);
 
-    JNU_ReleaseStringPlatformChars(env, uri_j, uri_c);
+    JNU_ReleaseStringPlatformChars(env, fileOrUri_j, fileOrUri_c);
     JNU_ReleaseStringPlatformChars(env, verb_j, verb_c);
 
     if ((int)retval <= 32) {
diff --git a/test/java/awt/Desktop/OpenByUNCPathNameTest/OpenByUNCPathNameTest.java b/test/java/awt/Desktop/OpenByUNCPathNameTest/OpenByUNCPathNameTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..052f36f7453f98ab1b6af54db0046efee56f8f6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/java/awt/Desktop/OpenByUNCPathNameTest/OpenByUNCPathNameTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
+ *
+ * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+ * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
+ * accompanied this code).
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
+ * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+ * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
+ * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
+ * questions.
+ */
+
+/* @test
+   @bug 6550588
+   @summary java.awt.Desktop cannot open file with Windows UNC filename
+   @author Anton Litvinov
+*/
+
+import java.awt.*;
+import java.awt.event.*;
+import java.io.*;
+
+public class OpenByUNCPathNameTest {
+    private static boolean validatePlatform() {
+        String osName = System.getProperty("os.name");
+        if (osName == null) {
+            throw new RuntimeException("Name of the current OS could not be retrieved.");
+        }
+        return osName.startsWith("Windows");
+    }
+
+    private static void openFile() throws IOException {
+        if (!Desktop.isDesktopSupported()) {
+            System.out.println("java.awt.Desktop is not supported on this platform.");
+        } else {
+            Desktop desktop = Desktop.getDesktop();
+            File file = File.createTempFile("Read Me File", ".txt");
+            try {
+                // Test opening of the file with Windows local file path.
+                desktop.open(file);
+                Robot robot = null;
+                try {
+                    Thread.sleep(5000);
+                    robot = new Robot();
+                } catch (Exception e) {
+                    e.printStackTrace();
+                }
+                pressAltF4Keys(robot);
+
+                // Test opening of the file with Windows UNC pathname.
+                String uncFilePath = "\\\\127.0.0.1\\" + file.getAbsolutePath().replace(':', '$');
+                File uncFile = new File(uncFilePath);
+                if (!uncFile.exists()) {
+                    throw new RuntimeException(String.format(
+                        "File with UNC pathname '%s' does not exist.", uncFilePath));
+                }
+                desktop.open(uncFile);
+                try {
+                    Thread.sleep(5000);
+                } catch (InterruptedException ie) {
+                    ie.printStackTrace();
+                }
+                pressAltF4Keys(robot);
+            } finally {
+                file.delete();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static void pressAltF4Keys(Robot robot) {
+        if (robot != null) {
+            robot.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_ALT);
+            robot.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_F4);
+            robot.delay(50);
+            robot.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_F4);
+            robot.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_ALT);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
+        if (!validatePlatform()) {
+            System.out.println("This test is only for MS Windows OS.");
+        } else {
+            openFile();
+        }
+    }
+}