diff --git a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlCheck.java b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlCheck.java
index 753ffe377..02060dd2d 100755
--- a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlCheck.java
+++ b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlCheck.java
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 package com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.imports;
 
+import java.io.File;
+import java.net.URI;
+
 import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.Check;
 import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.CheckstyleException;
 import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.DetailAST;
@@ -97,6 +100,33 @@ public class ImportControlCheck extends Check
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Set the parameter for the url containing the import control
+     * configuration. It will cause the url to be loaded.
+     * @param aUrl the url of the file to load.
+     * @throws ConversionException on error loading the file.
+     */
+    public void setUrl(final String aUrl)
+    {
+        // Handle empty param
+        if ((aUrl == null) || (aUrl.trim().length() == 0)) {
+            return;
+        }
+        final URI uri;
+        try {
+            uri = URI.create(aUrl);
+        }
+        catch (final IllegalArgumentException ex) {
+            throw new ConversionException("syntax error in url " + aUrl, ex);
+        }
+        try {
+            mRoot = ImportControlLoader.load(uri);
+        }
+        catch (final CheckstyleException ex) {
+            throw new ConversionException("Unable to load " + aUrl, ex);
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Set the parameter for the file containing the import control
      * configuration. It will cause the file to be loaded.
@@ -111,7 +141,7 @@ public class ImportControlCheck extends Check
         }
 
         try {
-            mRoot = ImportControlLoader.load(aName);
+            mRoot = ImportControlLoader.load(new File(aName).toURI());
         }
         catch (final CheckstyleException ex) {
             throw new ConversionException("Unable to load " + aName, ex);
diff --git a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlLoader.java b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlLoader.java
index 83798fdb6..386c948a1 100755
--- a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlLoader.java
+++ b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlLoader.java
@@ -20,9 +20,10 @@ package com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.imports;
 
 import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.AbstractLoader;
 import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.CheckstyleException;
-import java.io.FileInputStream;
-import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.net.MalformedURLException;
+import java.net.URI;
 import java.util.Stack;
 import javax.xml.parsers.ParserConfigurationException;
 import org.xml.sax.Attributes;
@@ -109,32 +110,35 @@ final class ImportControlLoader extends AbstractLoader
 
     /**
      * Loads the import control file from a file.
-     * @param aFilename the name of the file to load.
+     * @param aUri the uri of the file to load.
      * @return the root {@link PkgControl} object.
      * @throws CheckstyleException if an error occurs.
      */
-    static PkgControl load(final String aFilename) throws CheckstyleException
+    static PkgControl load(final URI aUri) throws CheckstyleException
     {
-        FileInputStream fis = null;
+        InputStream is = null;
         try {
-            fis = new FileInputStream(aFilename);
+            is = aUri.toURL().openStream();
         }
-        catch (final FileNotFoundException e) {
-            throw new CheckstyleException("unable to find " + aFilename, e);
+        catch (final MalformedURLException e) {
+            throw new CheckstyleException("syntax error in url " + aUri, e);
         }
-        final InputSource source = new InputSource(fis);
-        return load(source, aFilename);
+        catch (final IOException e) {
+            throw new CheckstyleException("unable to find " + aUri, e);
+        }
+        final InputSource source = new InputSource(is);
+        return load(source, aUri);
     }
 
     /**
      * Loads the import control file from a {@link InputSource}.
      * @param aSource the source to load from.
-     * @param aSourceName name of the source being loaded.
+     * @param aUri uri of the source being loaded.
      * @return the root {@link PkgControl} object.
      * @throws CheckstyleException if an error occurs.
      */
     private static PkgControl load(final InputSource aSource,
-        final String aSourceName) throws CheckstyleException
+        final URI aUri) throws CheckstyleException
     {
         try {
             final ImportControlLoader loader = new ImportControlLoader();
@@ -142,14 +146,14 @@ final class ImportControlLoader extends AbstractLoader
             return loader.getRoot();
         }
         catch (final ParserConfigurationException e) {
-            throw new CheckstyleException("unable to parse " + aSourceName, e);
+            throw new CheckstyleException("unable to parse " + aUri, e);
         }
         catch (final SAXException e) {
-            throw new CheckstyleException("unable to parse " + aSourceName
+            throw new CheckstyleException("unable to parse " + aUri
                     + " - " + e.getMessage(), e);
         }
         catch (final IOException e) {
-            throw new CheckstyleException("unable to read " + aSourceName, e);
+            throw new CheckstyleException("unable to read " + aUri, e);
         }
     }
 
@@ -170,7 +174,7 @@ final class ImportControlLoader extends AbstractLoader
      * @return the value of the attribute.
      * @throws SAXException if the attribute does not exist.
      */
-    private String safeGet(final Attributes aAtts, String aName)
+    private String safeGet(final Attributes aAtts, final String aName)
         throws SAXException
     {
         final String retVal = aAtts.getValue(aName);
diff --git a/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlLoaderTest.java b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlLoaderTest.java
index 82aa50556..3eddc231c 100755
--- a/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlLoaderTest.java
+++ b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlLoaderTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.imports;
 
+import java.io.File;
+
 import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.CheckstyleException;
 import junit.framework.TestCase;
 
@@ -7,9 +9,10 @@ public class ImportControlLoaderTest extends TestCase
 {
     public void testLoad() throws CheckstyleException
     {
-        final PkgControl root = ImportControlLoader.load(System
-                .getProperty("testinputs.dir")
-                + "/import-control_complete.xml");
+        final PkgControl root =
+                ImportControlLoader.load(new File(System
+                        .getProperty("testinputs.dir")
+                        + "/import-control_complete.xml").toURI());
         assertNotNull(root);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/xdocs/config_imports.xml b/src/xdocs/config_imports.xml
index 7bf24759e..3760bac91 100755
--- a/src/xdocs/config_imports.xml
+++ b/src/xdocs/config_imports.xml
@@ -355,6 +355,14 @@
             <td><a href="property_types.html#string">string</a></td>
             <td><span class="default">null</span></td>
           </tr>
+          <tr>
+            <td>url</td>
+            <td>
+              url of the file containing the import control configuration.
+            </td>
+            <td><a href="property_types.html#string">string</a></td>
+            <td><span class="default">null</span></td>
+          </tr>
         </table>
       </subsection>
 
diff --git a/src/xdocs/releasenotes.xml b/src/xdocs/releasenotes.xml
index c3fef44f3..90f2f8179 100755
--- a/src/xdocs/releasenotes.xml
+++ b/src/xdocs/releasenotes.xml
@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@
           Set the <tt>failureProperty</tt> with a meaningful message
           (feature request 1725475).
         </li>
+        <li>
+          Add a url option for ImportControl check. Thanks to Benjamin
+          Lerman for the patch 1724683.
+        </li>
       </ul>
     </section>