diff --git a/lib/library.cpp b/lib/library.cpp
index ae780f0ffe05..62e94876859d 100644
--- a/lib/library.cpp
+++ b/lib/library.cpp
@@ -94,13 +94,7 @@ Library::Error Library::load(const char exename[], const char path[], bool debug
     tinyxml2::XMLDocument doc;
     if (debug)
         std::cout << "looking for library '" + std::string(path) + "'" << std::endl;
-    tinyxml2::XMLError error = doc.LoadFile(path);
-    // TODO: do not ignore read errors
-    if (error == tinyxml2::XML_ERROR_FILE_READ_ERROR && Path::getFilenameExtension(path).empty())
-    {
-        // Reading file failed, try again...
-        error = tinyxml2::XML_ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND;
-    }
+    tinyxml2::XMLError error = xml_LoadFile(doc, path);
     if (error == tinyxml2::XML_ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND) {
         // failed to open file.. is there no extension?
         std::string fullfilename(path);
@@ -108,7 +102,7 @@ Library::Error Library::load(const char exename[], const char path[], bool debug
             fullfilename += ".cfg";
             if (debug)
                 std::cout << "looking for library '" + std::string(fullfilename) + "'" << std::endl;
-            error = doc.LoadFile(fullfilename.c_str());
+            error = xml_LoadFile(doc, fullfilename.c_str());
             if (error != tinyxml2::XML_ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND)
                 absolute_path = Path::getAbsoluteFilePath(fullfilename);
         }
@@ -134,7 +128,7 @@ Library::Error Library::load(const char exename[], const char path[], bool debug
                 const std::string filename(cfgfolder + sep + fullfilename);
                 if (debug)
                     std::cout << "looking for library '" + std::string(filename) + "'" << std::endl;
-                error = doc.LoadFile(filename.c_str());
+                error = xml_LoadFile(doc, filename.c_str());
                 if (error != tinyxml2::XML_ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND)
                     absolute_path = Path::getAbsoluteFilePath(filename);
             }
diff --git a/lib/xml.h b/lib/xml.h
index c8c258d973a9..8c720466201b 100644
--- a/lib/xml.h
+++ b/lib/xml.h
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #define xmlH
 
 #include "config.h"
+#include "path.h"
 
 SUPPRESS_WARNING_CLANG_PUSH("-Wzero-as-null-pointer-constant")
 SUPPRESS_WARNING_CLANG_PUSH("-Wsuggest-destructor-override")
@@ -31,4 +32,12 @@ SUPPRESS_WARNING_CLANG_POP
 SUPPRESS_WARNING_CLANG_POP
 SUPPRESS_WARNING_CLANG_POP
 
+inline static tinyxml2::XMLError xml_LoadFile(tinyxml2::XMLDocument& doc, const char* filename)
+{
+    // tinyxml2 will fail with a misleading XML_ERROR_FILE_READ_ERROR when you try to load a directory as a XML file
+    if (Path::isDirectory(filename))
+        return tinyxml2::XMLError::XML_ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND;
+    return doc.LoadFile(filename);
+}
+
 #endif // xmlH
diff --git a/test/cli/other_test.py b/test/cli/other_test.py
index 95199c15fc59..3502d3e0a361 100644
--- a/test/cli/other_test.py
+++ b/test/cli/other_test.py
@@ -1614,3 +1614,30 @@ def test_lib_lookup_absolute_notfound(tmpdir):
         "library not found: '{}'".format(cfg_file),
         "cppcheck: Failed to load library configuration file '{}'. File not found".format(cfg_file)
     ]
+
+
+def test_lib_lookup_nofile(tmpdir):
+    test_file = os.path.join(tmpdir, 'test.c')
+    with open(test_file, 'wt'):
+        pass
+
+    # make sure we do not produce an error when the attempted lookup path is a directory and not a file
+    gtk_dir = os.path.join(tmpdir, 'gtk')
+    os.mkdir(gtk_dir)
+    gtk_cfg_dir = os.path.join(tmpdir, 'gtk.cfg')
+    os.mkdir(gtk_cfg_dir)
+
+    exitcode, stdout, _, exe = cppcheck_ex(['--library=gtk', '--debug-lookup', test_file], cwd=tmpdir)
+    exepath = os.path.dirname(exe)
+    if sys.platform == 'win32':
+        exepath = exepath.replace('\\', '/')
+    assert exitcode == 0, stdout
+    lines = __remove_std_lookup_log(stdout.splitlines(), exepath)
+    assert lines == [
+        "looking for library 'gtk'",
+        "looking for library 'gtk.cfg'",
+        "looking for library '{}/gtk.cfg'".format(exepath),
+        "looking for library '{}/../cfg/gtk.cfg'".format(exepath),
+        "looking for library '{}/cfg/gtk.cfg'".format(exepath),
+        'Checking {} ...'.format(test_file)
+    ]