diff --git a/lib/classes/Service.js b/lib/classes/Service.js
index 1a74555308de..7e8a4c859df0 100644
--- a/lib/classes/Service.js
+++ b/lib/classes/Service.js
@@ -20,7 +20,14 @@ class Service {
     this.serviceObject = null;
     this.provider = {
       stage: 'dev',
-      variableSyntax: '\\${([^{}]+?)}',
+      variableSyntax:
+        '\\${(' +
+        // either 'foo:bar'
+        '[^{}:]+?:[^:{}][^{}]*?' +
+        '|' +
+        // or 'file(...)'
+        'file\\([^\\)]*\\)' +
+        ')}',
     };
     this.custom = {};
     this.plugins = [];
diff --git a/lib/classes/Variables.test.js b/lib/classes/Variables.test.js
index c2a380c776b9..eb30294e6133 100644
--- a/lib/classes/Variables.test.js
+++ b/lib/classes/Variables.test.js
@@ -1359,6 +1359,49 @@ module.exports = {
         .populateProperty(property)
         .should.eventually.eql('my stage is dev');
     });
+
+    it('should support ${file(...)} syntax', () => {
+      // eslint-disable-next-line no-template-curly-in-string
+      const property = '${file(~/somedir/../config.yml)}';
+
+      const expectedFileName = `${os.homedir()}/somedir/../config.yml`;
+      const configYml = {
+        foo: 'bar',
+      };
+      const fileExistsStub = sinon.stub(serverless.utils, 'fileExistsSync').returns(true);
+      const realpathSync = sinon.stub(fse, 'realpathSync').returns(expectedFileName);
+      const readFileSyncStub = sinon.stub(serverless.utils, 'readFileSync').returns(configYml);
+
+      return serverless.variables
+        .populateProperty(property)
+        .then(valueToPopulate => {
+          expect(realpathSync).to.not.have.been.called;
+          expect(fileExistsStub).to.have.been.calledWithMatch(expectedFileName);
+          expect(readFileSyncStub).to.have.been.calledWithMatch(expectedFileName);
+          expect(valueToPopulate).to.deep.equal(configYml);
+        })
+        .finally(() => {
+          realpathSync.restore();
+          readFileSyncStub.restore();
+          fileExistsStub.restore();
+        });
+    });
+
+    it('should ignore native CloudFormation variables', () => {
+      // eslint-disable-next-line no-template-curly-in-string
+      const property = 'the region is ${AWS::Region}';
+      return serverless.variables
+        .populateProperty(property)
+        .should.eventually.eql('the region is ${AWS::Region}');
+    });
+
+    it('should ignore CloudFormation references', () => {
+      // eslint-disable-next-line no-template-curly-in-string
+      const property = 'the region is ${AnotherResource}';
+      return serverless.variables
+        .populateProperty(property)
+        .should.eventually.eql('the region is ${AnotherResource}');
+    });
   });
 
   describe('#populateVariable()', () => {
diff --git a/lib/plugins/print/print.test.js b/lib/plugins/print/print.test.js
index 917760b6ae01..9819ba371fb3 100644
--- a/lib/plugins/print/print.test.js
+++ b/lib/plugins/print/print.test.js
@@ -326,38 +326,6 @@ describe('Print', () => {
     });
   });
 
-  it('should resolve self references', () => {
-    const conf = {
-      custom: {
-        me: '${self:}',
-      },
-      provider: {},
-    };
-    getServerlessConfigFileStub.resolves(conf);
-
-    serverless.processedInput = {
-      commands: ['print'],
-      options: {},
-    };
-
-    const expected = {
-      custom: {
-        me: {
-          $ref: '$',
-        },
-      },
-      provider: {},
-    };
-
-    return print.print().then(() => {
-      const message = print.serverless.cli.consoleLog.args.join();
-
-      expect(getServerlessConfigFileStub.calledOnce).to.equal(true);
-      expect(print.serverless.cli.consoleLog.called).to.be.equal(true);
-      expect(YAML.load(message)).to.eql(expected);
-    });
-  });
-
   describe('should resolve fallback', () => {
     [
       { value: 'hello_123@~:/+', description: 'ascii chars' },