diff --git a/snakemake/linting/snakefiles.py b/snakemake/linting/snakefiles.py
index f31d63022..9f8b77bd2 100644
--- a/snakemake/linting/snakefiles.py
+++ b/snakemake/linting/snakefiles.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ def item_desc_json(self, snakefile):
         return {"snakefile": snakefile}
 
     def read_item(self, snakefile):
-        return open(snakefile).read()
+        return self.workflow.sourcecache.open(snakefile).read()
 
     def lint_absolute_paths(self, snakefile, regex=re.compile(ABS_PATH_PATTERN)):
         for match in regex.finditer(snakefile):