diff --git a/src/extension/internal/svg.cpp b/src/extension/internal/svg.cpp
index a94bc21..396813c 100644
--- a/src/extension/internal/svg.cpp
+++ b/src/extension/internal/svg.cpp
@@ -148,21 +148,16 @@ Svg::init(void)
 #define BUF_SIZE 8192
 
 static gchar *
-_load_uri (const gchar *uri)
+_load_vfs_uri (GnomeVFSURI* const vfs_uri)
 {
     GnomeVFSHandle   *handle = NULL;
     GnomeVFSFileSize  bytes_read;
 
-        gsize bytesRead = 0;
-        gsize bytesWritten = 0;
-        GError* error = NULL;
-        gchar* uri_local = g_filename_from_utf8( uri, -1, &bytesRead, &bytesWritten, &error);
+    gsize bytesRead = 0;
+    gsize bytesWritten = 0;
+    GError* error = NULL;
 
-        if ( uri_local == NULL ) {
-            g_warning( "Error converting filename to locale encoding.");
-        }
-
-    GnomeVFSResult result = gnome_vfs_open (&handle, uri_local, GNOME_VFS_OPEN_READ);
+    GnomeVFSResult result = gnome_vfs_open_uri (&handle, vfs_uri, GNOME_VFS_OPEN_READ);
 
     if (result != GNOME_VFS_OK) {
         g_warning("%s", gnome_vfs_result_to_string(result));
@@ -193,18 +188,25 @@ SPDocument *
 Svg::open (Inkscape::Extension::Input */*mod*/, const gchar *uri)
 {
 #ifdef WITH_GNOME_VFS
-    if (!gnome_vfs_initialized() || gnome_vfs_uri_is_local(gnome_vfs_uri_new(uri))) {
-        // Use built-in loader instead of VFS for this
-        return SPDocument::createNewDoc(uri, TRUE);
-    }
-    gchar * buffer = _load_uri(uri);
-    if (buffer == NULL) {
-        g_warning("Error:  Could not open file '%s' with VFS\n", uri);
-        return NULL;
+    // We may already have a vfs_uri text with a method and a scheme
+    // (i.e. file:///path/file.svgz#gzip:)
+    GnomeVFSURI* const vfs_uri = gnome_vfs_uri_new(gnome_vfs_make_uri_from_input(uri));
+
+    // Delegate all file loading to gnome_vfs if up
+    SPDocument* doc;
+    if (gnome_vfs_initialized()) {
+        gchar * buffer = _load_vfs_uri(vfs_uri);
+        if (buffer == NULL) {
+            g_warning("Error:  Could not open file '%s' with VFS\n", uri);
+            return NULL;
+        }
+        doc = SPDocument::createNewDocFromMem(buffer, strlen(buffer), 1);
+        g_free(buffer);
+    } else {
+        // Go through the built-in loader
+        doc = SPDocument::createNewDoc(uri, TRUE);
     }
-    SPDocument * doc = SPDocument::createNewDocFromMem(buffer, strlen(buffer), 1);
-
-    g_free(buffer);
+    g_free(vfs_uri);
     return doc;
 #else
     return SPDocument::createNewDoc(uri, TRUE);
diff --git a/src/extension/internal/svgz.cpp b/src/extension/internal/svgz.cpp
index be94409..22557aa 100644
--- a/src/extension/internal/svgz.cpp
+++ b/src/extension/internal/svgz.cpp
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@
 #include "extension/extension.h"
 #include "extension/system.h"
 
+
+#ifdef WITH_GNOME_VFS
+#include <string.h>
+# include <libgnomevfs/gnome-vfs.h>
+#endif
+
 namespace Inkscape {
 namespace Extension {
 namespace Internal {
@@ -85,6 +91,40 @@ Svgz::init(void)
     return;
 }
 
+#ifdef WITH_GNOME_VFS
+/**
+    \return    A new document just for you!
+    \brief     Overrides parent Svg::open().
+               This function takes in a gnome_vfs_uri string of an SVGZ document
+               and makes sure we use the gzip method to open it before calling
+               parent Svg::open()
+    \param     mod            Module to use
+    \param     vfs_uri_text   The path to the file (UTF-8)
+
+    This function is really simple, it just calls sp_document_new...
+*/
+SPDocument *
+Svgz::open (Inkscape::Extension::Input *mod, const gchar *vfs_uri_text)
+{
+    //
+    GnomeVFSURI* vfs_uri_current = gnome_vfs_uri_new(gnome_vfs_make_uri_from_input(vfs_uri_text));
+    //GnomeVFSToplevelURI* toplevel_uri = gnome_vfs_uri_get_toplevel(vfs_uri);
+
+    GnomeVFSURI* vfs_uri;
+    // make sure we are using the gzip method for vfs access
+    if(strcmp("gzip", vfs_uri_current->method_string) != 0) {
+        vfs_uri = gnome_vfs_uri_append_string(vfs_uri_current, "#gzip:");
+    } else {
+        vfs_uri = gnome_vfs_uri_dup(vfs_uri_current);
+    }
+    g_free(vfs_uri_current);
+
+    const gchar* uri_text = gnome_vfs_uri_to_string(vfs_uri, GNOME_VFS_URI_HIDE_NONE);
+    g_free(vfs_uri);
+
+    return Svg::open(mod, uri_text);
+}
+#endif
 
 } } }  // namespace inkscape, module, implementation
 
diff --git a/src/extension/internal/svgz.h b/src/extension/internal/svgz.h
index ba348f8..06bcac3 100644
--- a/src/extension/internal/svgz.h
+++ b/src/extension/internal/svgz.h
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ namespace Internal {
 class Svgz : public Svg {
 public:
     static void init( void );
+#ifdef WITH_GNOME_VFS
+    SPDocument *open( Inkscape::Extension::Input *mod,
+                                const gchar *uri ) override;
+#endif
 };
 
 } } }  // namespace Inkscape, Extension, Implementation
diff --git a/src/extension/system.cpp b/src/extension/system.cpp
index 6a95717..166c088 100644
--- a/src/extension/system.cpp
+++ b/src/extension/system.cpp
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@
 #include "inkscape.h"
 #include "document-undo.h"
 
+#ifdef WITH_GNOME_VFS
+# include <libgnomevfs/gnome-vfs.h>
+#endif
 
 namespace Inkscape {
 namespace Extension {
@@ -72,9 +75,17 @@ SPDocument *open(Extension *key, gchar const *filename)
 {
     Input *imod = NULL;
 
+#ifdef WITH_GNOME_VFS
+    // If we have a vfs uri an access method (e.g. #gzip:)
+    // strip it out for module autodetection
+    gchar* auto_detect_uri = gnome_vfs_make_uri_canonical_strip_fragment(filename);
+#else
+    gchar* auto_detect_uri = strdup(filename);
+#endif
+
     if (key == NULL) {
         gpointer parray[2];
-        parray[0] = (gpointer)filename;
+        parray[0] = (gpointer)auto_detect_uri;
         parray[1] = (gpointer)&imod;
         db.foreach(open_internal, (gpointer)&parray);
     } else {
@@ -128,7 +139,9 @@ SPDocument *open(Extension *key, gchar const *filename)
         }
     }
 
-    doc->setUri(filename);
+    // Send the autodetect uri to have a coherent
+    // filename if we had a vfs method in uri
+    doc->setUri(auto_detect_uri);
     if (!show) {
         imod->set_gui(true);
     }