diff --git a/libfwupdplugin/fu-common.c b/libfwupdplugin/fu-common.c
index b62c30753..b21168d52 100644
--- a/libfwupdplugin/fu-common.c
+++ b/libfwupdplugin/fu-common.c
@@ -2772,13 +2772,19 @@ fu_common_get_esp_for_path (const gchar *esp_path, GError **error)
 {
 	g_autofree gchar *basename = NULL;
 	g_autoptr(GPtrArray) volumes = NULL;
+	g_autoptr(GError) error_local = NULL;
 
 	g_return_val_if_fail (esp_path != NULL, NULL);
 	g_return_val_if_fail (error == NULL || *error == NULL, NULL);
 
-	volumes = fu_common_get_volumes_by_kind (FU_VOLUME_KIND_ESP, error);
-	if (volumes == NULL)
+	volumes = fu_common_get_volumes_by_kind (FU_VOLUME_KIND_ESP, &error_local);
+	if (volumes == NULL) {
+		/* check if it's a valid directory already */
+		if (g_file_test (esp_path, G_FILE_TEST_IS_DIR))
+			return fu_volume_new_from_mount_path (esp_path);
+		g_propagate_error (error, g_steal_pointer (&error_local));
 		return NULL;
+	}
 	basename = g_path_get_basename (esp_path);
 	for (guint i = 0; i < volumes->len; i++) {
 		FuVolume *vol = g_ptr_array_index (volumes, i);