diff --git a/bin/tape b/bin/tape
index f774228f..2783f5da 100755
--- a/bin/tape
+++ b/bin/tape
@@ -48,14 +48,17 @@ if (typeof opts.ignore === 'string') {
 var glob = require('glob');
 
 opts._.reduce(function (result, arg) {
-    // If glob does not match, `files` will be an empty array. Note: `glob.sync` may throw an error and crash the node process.
-    var files = glob.sync(arg);
+    if (glob.hasMagic(arg)) {
+        // If glob does not match, `files` will be an empty array. Note: `glob.sync` may throw an error and crash the node process.
+        var files = glob.sync(arg);
 
-    if (!Array.isArray(files)) {
-        throw new TypeError('unknown error: glob.sync did not return an array or throw. Please report this.');
-    }
+        if (!Array.isArray(files)) {
+            throw new TypeError('unknown error: glob.sync did not return an array or throw. Please report this.');
+        }
 
-    return result.concat(files);
+        return result.concat(files);
+    }
+    return result.concat(arg);
 }, []).filter(function (file) {
     return !matcher || !matcher.shouldIgnore(file);
 }).forEach(function (file) {