diff --git a/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlCheck.java b/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlCheck.java
index 2474c3ef0..0c98e0dd7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlCheck.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlCheck.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ package com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.imports;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 import org.apache.commons.beanutils.ConversionException;
 
@@ -73,6 +74,11 @@ public class ImportControlCheck extends AbstractCheck implements ExternalResourc
     /** Location of import control file. */
     private String fileLocation;
 
+    /** The filepath pattern this check applies to. */
+    private Pattern path = Pattern.compile(".*");
+    /** Whether to process the current file. */
+    private boolean processCurrentFile;
+
     /** The root package controller. */
     private ImportControl root;
     /** The package doing the import. */
@@ -103,27 +109,31 @@ public class ImportControlCheck extends AbstractCheck implements ExternalResourc
     @Override
     public void beginTree(final DetailAST rootAST) {
         currentImportControl = null;
+        processCurrentFile = path.matcher(getFileContents().getFileName()).find();
     }
 
     @Override
     public void visitToken(final DetailAST ast) {
-        if (ast.getType() == TokenTypes.PACKAGE_DEF) {
-            if (root == null) {
-                log(ast, MSG_MISSING_FILE);
-            }
-            else {
-                packageName = getPackageText(ast);
-                currentImportControl = root.locateFinest(packageName);
-                if (currentImportControl == null) {
-                    log(ast, MSG_UNKNOWN_PKG);
+        if (processCurrentFile) {
+            if (ast.getType() == TokenTypes.PACKAGE_DEF) {
+                if (root == null) {
+                    log(ast, MSG_MISSING_FILE);
+                }
+                else {
+                    packageName = getPackageText(ast);
+                    currentImportControl = root.locateFinest(packageName);
+                    if (currentImportControl == null) {
+                        log(ast, MSG_UNKNOWN_PKG);
+                    }
                 }
             }
-        }
-        else if (currentImportControl != null) {
-            final String importText = getImportText(ast);
-            final AccessResult access = currentImportControl.checkAccess(packageName, importText);
-            if (access != AccessResult.ALLOWED) {
-                log(ast, MSG_DISALLOWED, importText);
+            else if (currentImportControl != null) {
+                final String importText = getImportText(ast);
+                final AccessResult access =
+                        currentImportControl.checkAccess(packageName, importText);
+                if (access != AccessResult.ALLOWED) {
+                    log(ast, MSG_DISALLOWED, importText);
+                }
             }
         }
     }
@@ -181,6 +191,14 @@ public class ImportControlCheck extends AbstractCheck implements ExternalResourc
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Set the file path pattern that this check applies to.
+     * @param pattern the file path regex this check should apply to.
+     */
+    public void setPath(Pattern pattern) {
+        path = pattern;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Set the parameter for the url containing the import control
      * configuration. It will cause the url to be loaded.
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlCheckTest.java b/src/test/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlCheckTest.java
index 6ca0cded2..6c8ded44d 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlCheckTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/imports/ImportControlCheckTest.java
@@ -356,6 +356,46 @@ public class ImportControlCheckTest extends BaseCheckTestSupport {
         verify(checker, pathToEmptyFile, pathToEmptyFile, expected);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testPathRegexMatches() throws Exception {
+        final DefaultConfiguration checkConfig = createCheckConfig(ImportControlCheck.class);
+        checkConfig.addAttribute("file", getResourcePath("import-control_one.xml"));
+        checkConfig.addAttribute("path", "^.*[\\\\/]src[\\\\/]test[\\\\/].*$");
+        final String[] expected = {"5:1: " + getCheckMessage(MSG_DISALLOWED, "java.io.File")};
+
+        verify(checkConfig, getPath("InputImportControl.java"), expected);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testPathRegexMatchesPartially() throws Exception {
+        final DefaultConfiguration checkConfig = createCheckConfig(ImportControlCheck.class);
+        checkConfig.addAttribute("file", getResourcePath("import-control_one.xml"));
+        checkConfig.addAttribute("path", "[\\\\/]InputImportControl\\.java");
+        final String[] expected = {"5:1: " + getCheckMessage(MSG_DISALLOWED, "java.io.File")};
+
+        verify(checkConfig, getPath("InputImportControl.java"), expected);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testPathRegexDoesntMatch() throws Exception {
+        final DefaultConfiguration checkConfig = createCheckConfig(ImportControlCheck.class);
+        checkConfig.addAttribute("file", getResourcePath("import-control_one.xml"));
+        checkConfig.addAttribute("path", "^.*[\\\\/]src[\\\\/]main[\\\\/].*$");
+        final String[] expected = CommonUtils.EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY;
+
+        verify(checkConfig, getPath("InputImportControl.java"), expected);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testPathRegexDoesntMatchPartially() throws Exception {
+        final DefaultConfiguration checkConfig = createCheckConfig(ImportControlCheck.class);
+        checkConfig.addAttribute("file", getResourcePath("import-control_one.xml"));
+        checkConfig.addAttribute("path", "[\\\\/]NoMatch\\.java");
+        final String[] expected = CommonUtils.EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY;
+
+        verify(checkConfig, getPath("InputImportControl.java"), expected);
+    }
+
     private Checker createMockCheckerWithCache(DefaultConfiguration checkConfig)
             throws IOException, CheckstyleException {
         final DefaultConfiguration treeWalkerConfig = createCheckConfig(TreeWalker.class);
diff --git a/src/xdocs/config_imports.xml b/src/xdocs/config_imports.xml
index 4316ca181..779a99020 100644
--- a/src/xdocs/config_imports.xml
+++ b/src/xdocs/config_imports.xml
@@ -723,6 +723,16 @@ import android.*;
             <td><a href="property_types.html#uri">URI</a></td>
             <td><code>null</code></td>
           </tr>
+          <tr>
+            <td>path</td>
+            <td>
+              Regular expression of file paths to which this check should apply. Files that
+              don't match the pattern will not be checked. The pattern will be matched against
+              the full absolute file path.
+            </td>
+            <td><a href="property_types.html#regexp">Regular Expression</a></td>
+            <td><code>".*"</code></td>
+          </tr>
         </table>
       </subsection>
 
@@ -738,6 +748,19 @@ import android.*;
 &lt;/module&gt;
         </source>
 
+        <p>
+          To configure the check to only check the &quot;src/main&quot; directory
+          using an import control file called &quot;config/import-control.xml&quot;,
+          then have the following:
+        </p>
+
+        <source>
+&lt;module name=&quot;ImportControl&quot;&gt;
+    &lt;property name=&quot;file&quot; value=&quot;config/import-control.xml&quot;/&gt;
+    &lt;property name=&quot;path&quot; value=&quot;^.*[\\/]src[\\/]main[\\/].*$&quot;/&gt;
+&lt;/module&gt;
+        </source>
+
         <p>
             In the example below access to package
             <code>com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks</code> and its subpackages is