diff --git a/src/search_type/image_search.py b/src/search_type/image_search.py
index 08b4ec5b..323556e7 100644
--- a/src/search_type/image_search.py
+++ b/src/search_type/image_search.py
@@ -136,12 +136,12 @@ def extract_metadata(image_name):
 
 
 def query(raw_query, count, model: ImageSearchModel):
-    # Set query to image content if query is a filepath
-    if pathlib.Path(raw_query).is_file():
-        query_imagepath = resolve_absolute_path(pathlib.Path(raw_query), strict=True)
+    # Set query to image content if query is of form file:/path/to/file.png
+    if raw_query.startswith("file:") and pathlib.Path(raw_query[5:]).is_file():
+        query_imagepath = resolve_absolute_path(pathlib.Path(raw_query[5:]), strict=True)
         query = copy.deepcopy(Image.open(query_imagepath))
         query.thumbnail((640, query.height)) # scale down image for faster processing
-        logger.info(f"Find Images similar to Image at {query_imagepath}")
+        logger.info(f"Find Images by Image: {query_imagepath}")
     else:
         query = raw_query
         logger.info(f"Find Images by Text: {query}")
diff --git a/tests/test_image_search.py b/tests/test_image_search.py
index 374168f5..2a396f54 100644
--- a/tests/test_image_search.py
+++ b/tests/test_image_search.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 # Standard Modules
+import logging
 from pathlib import Path
 from PIL import Image
 
@@ -77,3 +78,42 @@ def test_image_search(content_config: ContentConfig, search_config: SearchConfig
     # Cleanup
     # Delete the image files copied to results directory
     actual_image_path.unlink()
+
+
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+def test_image_search_by_filepath(content_config: ContentConfig, search_config: SearchConfig, caplog):
+    # Arrange
+    output_directory = resolve_absolute_path(web_directory)
+    model.image_search = image_search.setup(content_config.image, search_config.image, regenerate=False)
+    image_directory = content_config.image.input_directories[0]
+
+    query = f"file:{image_directory.joinpath('kitten_park.jpg')}"
+    expected_image_path = f"{image_directory.joinpath('kitten_park.jpg')}"
+
+    # Act
+    with caplog.at_level(logging.INFO, logger="src.search_type.image_search"):
+        hits = image_search.query(
+            query,
+            count = 1,
+            model = model.image_search)
+
+        results = image_search.collate_results(
+            hits,
+            model.image_search.image_names,
+            output_directory=output_directory,
+            image_files_url='/static/images',
+            count=1)
+
+    actual_image_path = output_directory.joinpath(Path(results[0].entry).name)
+    actual_image = Image.open(actual_image_path)
+    expected_image = Image.open(expected_image_path)
+
+    # Assert
+    # Ensure file search triggered instead of query with file path as string
+    assert f"Find Images by Image: {resolve_absolute_path(expected_image_path)}" in caplog.text, "File search not triggered"
+    # Ensure the correct image is returned
+    assert expected_image == actual_image, "Incorrect image returned by file search"
+
+    # Cleanup
+    # Delete the image files copied to results directory
+    actual_image_path.unlink()