diff --git a/core/citrus-base/src/main/java/org/citrusframework/variable/dictionary/AbstractDataDictionary.java b/core/citrus-base/src/main/java/org/citrusframework/variable/dictionary/AbstractDataDictionary.java
index 3b7d0bad1a..2d70fefcee 100644
--- a/core/citrus-base/src/main/java/org/citrusframework/variable/dictionary/AbstractDataDictionary.java
+++ b/core/citrus-base/src/main/java/org/citrusframework/variable/dictionary/AbstractDataDictionary.java
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ public void initialize() {
 
             Properties props = new Properties();
             try (InputStream inputStream = mappingFile.getInputStream()) {
-                if (mappingFile.getFile().getName().endsWith(".xml")) {
+                if (mappingFile.getLocation().endsWith(".xml")) {
                     props.loadFromXML(inputStream);
                 } else {
                     props.load(inputStream);
diff --git a/core/citrus-base/src/test/java/org/citrusframework/variable/dictionary/AbstractDataDictionaryTest.java b/core/citrus-base/src/test/java/org/citrusframework/variable/dictionary/AbstractDataDictionaryTest.java
index 7f31bc2282..deb21f9bc6 100644
--- a/core/citrus-base/src/test/java/org/citrusframework/variable/dictionary/AbstractDataDictionaryTest.java
+++ b/core/citrus-base/src/test/java/org/citrusframework/variable/dictionary/AbstractDataDictionaryTest.java
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
 import org.testng.annotations.BeforeMethod;
 import org.testng.annotations.Test;
 
-import java.io.File;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.util.InvalidPropertiesFormatException;
 
@@ -48,7 +47,7 @@ public void testInitializeWithNormalPropertiesFile() {
 
         // Setup mock resource
         doReturn(inputStream).when(mappingFile).getInputStream();
-        doReturn(new File("test.properties")).when(mappingFile).getFile();
+        doReturn("test.properties").when(mappingFile).getLocation();
 
         fixture.initialize();
 
@@ -69,7 +68,7 @@ public void testInitializeWithXMLPropertiesFile() {
 
         // Setup mock resource
         doReturn(inputStream).when(mappingFile).getInputStream();
-        doReturn(new File("test.properties.xml")).when(mappingFile).getFile(); // Note the .xml-suffix
+        doReturn("test.properties.xml").when(mappingFile).getLocation(); // Note the .xml-suffix
 
         fixture.initialize();
 
@@ -83,7 +82,7 @@ public void testInitializeThrowsExceptionWithInvalidXMLPropertiesFile() {
 
         // Setup mock resource
         doReturn(inputStream).when(mappingFile).getInputStream();
-        doReturn(new File("test.properties.xml")).when(mappingFile).getFile(); // Note the .xml-suffix
+        doReturn("test.properties.xml").when(mappingFile).getLocation(); // Note the .xml-suffix
 
         CitrusRuntimeException exception = expectThrows(CitrusRuntimeException.class, () -> fixture.initialize());
         assertTrue(exception.getCause() instanceof InvalidPropertiesFormatException);