diff --git a/@commitlint/load/src/utils/load-plugin.test.ts b/@commitlint/load/src/utils/load-plugin.test.ts
index abe9b74bc6..0cd5c0e6b4 100644
--- a/@commitlint/load/src/utils/load-plugin.test.ts
+++ b/@commitlint/load/src/utils/load-plugin.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 import loadPlugin from './load-plugin';
+import {platform} from 'os';
+import chalk from 'chalk';
 
 jest.mock('commitlint-plugin-example', () => ({example: true}), {
 	virtual: true,
@@ -8,6 +10,22 @@ jest.mock('@scope/commitlint-plugin-example', () => ({scope: true}), {
 	virtual: true,
 });
 
+jest.mock('./relative/posix.js', () => ({relativePosix: true}), {
+	virtual: true,
+});
+
+jest.mock('/absolute/posix.js', () => ({relativePosix: true}), {
+	virtual: true,
+});
+
+jest.mock('.\\relative\\windows.js', () => ({relativePosix: true}), {
+	virtual: true,
+});
+
+jest.mock('C:\\absolute\\windows.js', () => ({relativePosix: true}), {
+	virtual: true,
+});
+
 test('should load a plugin when referenced by short name', () => {
 	const plugins = loadPlugin({}, 'example');
 	expect(plugins['example']).toBe(require('commitlint-plugin-example'));
@@ -34,9 +52,14 @@ test('should throw an error when a plugin has whitespace', () => {
 });
 
 test("should throw an error when a plugin doesn't exist", () => {
+	const spy = jest.spyOn(console, 'error').mockImplementation();
 	expect(() => loadPlugin({}, 'nonexistentplugin')).toThrow(
 		'Failed to load plugin'
 	);
+	expect(spy).toBeCalledWith(
+		chalk.red(`Failed to load plugin commitlint-plugin-nonexistentplugin.`)
+	);
+	spy.mockRestore();
 });
 
 test('should load a scoped plugin when referenced by short name', () => {
@@ -63,3 +86,40 @@ test("should load a scoped plugin when referenced by long name, but should not g
 	const plugins = loadPlugin({}, '@scope/commitlint-plugin-example');
 	expect(plugins['example']).toBe(undefined);
 });
+
+test('should load a plugin when relative posix path is provided', () => {
+	const plugins = loadPlugin({}, './relative/posix.js');
+	expect(plugins['posix.js']).toBe(require('./relative/posix.js'));
+});
+
+test('should load a plugin when absolute posix path is provided', () => {
+	const plugins = loadPlugin({}, '/absolute/posix.js');
+	// eslint-disable-next-line import/no-absolute-path
+	expect(plugins['posix.js']).toBe(require('/absolute/posix.js'));
+});
+
+if (platform() === 'win32') {
+	test('should load a plugin when relative windows path is provided', () => {
+		const plugins = loadPlugin({}, '.\\relative\\windows.js');
+		expect(plugins['windows.js']).toBe(require('.\\relative\\windows.js'));
+	});
+
+	test('should load a plugin when absolute windows path is provided', () => {
+		const plugins = loadPlugin({}, 'C:\\absolute\\windows.js');
+		// eslint-disable-next-line import/no-absolute-path
+		expect(plugins['windows.js']).toBe(require('C:\\absolute\\windows.js'));
+	});
+} else {
+	test('should not load a plugin when absolute windows path is provided', () => {
+		const spy = jest.spyOn(console, 'error').mockImplementation();
+		expect(() => loadPlugin({}, 'C:\\absolute\\windows.js')).toThrow(
+			'Failed to load plugin'
+		);
+		expect(spy).toBeCalledWith(
+			chalk.red(
+				`Failed to load plugin commitlint-plugin-C:/absolute/windows.js.`
+			)
+		);
+		spy.mockRestore();
+	});
+}
diff --git a/@commitlint/load/src/utils/load-plugin.ts b/@commitlint/load/src/utils/load-plugin.ts
index 30003816ba..4b387b4697 100644
--- a/@commitlint/load/src/utils/load-plugin.ts
+++ b/@commitlint/load/src/utils/load-plugin.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import path from 'path';
 import chalk from 'chalk';
-import {normalizePackageName, getShorthandName} from './plugin-naming';
+import {normalizePackageName} from './plugin-naming';
 import {WhitespacePluginError, MissingPluginError} from './plugin-errors';
 import {PluginRecords} from '@commitlint/types';
 
@@ -9,8 +9,7 @@ export default function loadPlugin(
 	pluginName: string,
 	debug: boolean = false
 ): PluginRecords {
-	const longName = normalizePackageName(pluginName);
-	const shortName = getShorthandName(longName);
+	const {longName, shortName} = normalizePackageName(pluginName);
 	let plugin = null;
 
 	if (pluginName.match(/\s+/u)) {
diff --git a/@commitlint/load/src/utils/plugin-naming.ts b/@commitlint/load/src/utils/plugin-naming.ts
index ecf42784b4..784e8eaff5 100644
--- a/@commitlint/load/src/utils/plugin-naming.ts
+++ b/@commitlint/load/src/utils/plugin-naming.ts
@@ -1,27 +1,40 @@
 import path from 'path';
 
-// largely adapted from eslint's plugin system
-const NAMESPACE_REGEX = /^@.*\//iu;
 // In eslint this is a parameter - we don't need to support the extra options
 const prefix = 'commitlint-plugin';
 
-// Replace Windows with posix style paths
-function convertPathToPosix(filepath: string) {
+/**
+ * Replace Windows with posix style paths
+ */
+function convertPathToPosix(filepath: string): string {
 	const normalizedFilepath = path.normalize(filepath);
-	const posixFilepath = normalizedFilepath.replace(/\\/gu, '/');
-
-	return posixFilepath;
+	return normalizedFilepath.replace(/\\/gu, '/');
 }
 
 /**
  * Brings package name to correct format based on prefix
- * @param {string} name The name of the package.
- * @returns {string} Normalized name of the package
- * @private
+ * @param name The name of the package.
+ * @returns Normalized name of the package
+ * @internal
  */
-export function normalizePackageName(name: string) {
+export function normalizePackageName(
+	name: string
+): {longName: string; shortName: string} {
 	let normalizedName = name;
 
+	if (
+		path.isAbsolute(name) ||
+		name.startsWith('./') ||
+		name.startsWith('../') ||
+		name.startsWith('.\\') ||
+		name.startsWith('..\\')
+	) {
+		return {
+			longName: name,
+			shortName: path.basename(name) || name,
+		};
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * On Windows, name can come in with Windows slashes instead of Unix slashes.
 	 * Normalize to Unix first to avoid errors later on.
@@ -61,40 +74,33 @@ export function normalizePackageName(name: string) {
 		normalizedName = `${prefix}-${normalizedName}`;
 	}
 
-	return normalizedName;
+	return {
+		longName: normalizedName,
+		shortName: getShorthandName(normalizedName),
+	};
 }
 
 /**
- * Removes the prefix from a fullname.
- * @param {string} fullname The term which may have the prefix.
- * @returns {string} The term without prefix.
+ * Removes the prefix from a fullName.
+ * @param fullName The term which may have the prefix.
+ * @returns The term without prefix.
+ * @internal
  */
-export function getShorthandName(fullname: string) {
-	if (fullname[0] === '@') {
-		let matchResult = new RegExp(`^(@[^/]+)/${prefix}$`, 'u').exec(fullname);
+export function getShorthandName(fullName: string): string {
+	if (fullName[0] === '@') {
+		let matchResult = new RegExp(`^(@[^/]+)/${prefix}$`, 'u').exec(fullName);
 
 		if (matchResult) {
 			return matchResult[1];
 		}
 
-		matchResult = new RegExp(`^(@[^/]+)/${prefix}-(.+)$`, 'u').exec(fullname);
+		matchResult = new RegExp(`^(@[^/]+)/${prefix}-(.+)$`, 'u').exec(fullName);
 		if (matchResult) {
 			return `${matchResult[1]}/${matchResult[2]}`;
 		}
-	} else if (fullname.startsWith(`${prefix}-`)) {
-		return fullname.slice(prefix.length + 1);
+	} else if (fullName.startsWith(`${prefix}-`)) {
+		return fullName.slice(prefix.length + 1);
 	}
 
-	return fullname;
-}
-
-/**
- * Gets the scope (namespace) of a term.
- * @param {string} term The term which may have the namespace.
- * @returns {string} The namepace of the term if it has one.
- */
-export function getNamespaceFromTerm(term: string) {
-	const match = term.match(NAMESPACE_REGEX);
-
-	return match ? match[0] : '';
+	return fullName;
 }