diff --git a/Doc/library/zipfile.rst b/Doc/library/zipfile.rst
index a0de10cae3dbeb5..24d13a57ff86678 100644
--- a/Doc/library/zipfile.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/zipfile.rst
@@ -132,8 +132,9 @@ ZipFile Objects
 
 .. class:: ZipFile(file, mode='r', compression=ZIP_STORED, allowZip64=True)
 
-   Open a ZIP file, where *file* can be either a path to a file (a string) or a
-   file-like object.  The *mode* parameter should be ``'r'`` to read an existing
+   Open a ZIP file, where *file* can be a path to a file (a string), a
+   file-like object or a :term:`path-like object`.
+   The *mode* parameter should be ``'r'`` to read an existing
    file, ``'w'`` to truncate and write a new file, ``'a'`` to append to an
    existing file, or ``'x'`` to exclusively create and write a new file.
    If *mode* is ``'x'`` and *file* refers to an existing file,
@@ -183,6 +184,9 @@ ZipFile Objects
       Previously, a plain :exc:`RuntimeError` was raised for unrecognized
       compression values.
 
+   .. versionchanged:: 3.6.1
+      The *file* parameter accepts a :term:`path-like object`.
+
 
 .. method:: ZipFile.close()
 
@@ -403,6 +407,9 @@ ZipFile Objects
 
 The following data attributes are also available:
 
+.. attribute:: ZipFile.filename
+
+   Name of the ZIP file.
 
 .. attribute:: ZipFile.debug
 
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_zipfile.py b/Lib/test/test_zipfile.py
index 0a19d76f429b399..70a3c85b04adbc3 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_zipfile.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_zipfile.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import io
 import os
 import importlib.util
+import pathlib
 import posixpath
 import time
 import struct
@@ -148,6 +149,12 @@ def test_open(self):
         for f in get_files(self):
             self.zip_open_test(f, self.compression)
 
+    def test_open_with_pathlike(self):
+        path = pathlib.Path(TESTFN2)
+        self.zip_open_test(path, self.compression)
+        with zipfile.ZipFile(path, "r", self.compression) as zipfp:
+            self.assertIsInstance(zipfp.filename, str)
+
     def zip_random_open_test(self, f, compression):
         self.make_test_archive(f, compression)
 
diff --git a/Lib/zipfile.py b/Lib/zipfile.py
index 93171358e41167b..7a93de57af3baac 100644
--- a/Lib/zipfile.py
+++ b/Lib/zipfile.py
@@ -1069,10 +1069,10 @@ def __init__(self, file, mode="r", compression=ZIP_STORED, allowZip64=True):
         self._comment = b''
 
         # Check if we were passed a file-like object
-        if isinstance(file, str):
+        if isinstance(file, (str, os.PathLike)):
             # No, it's a filename
             self._filePassed = 0
-            self.filename = file
+            self.filename = os.fspath(file)
             modeDict = {'r' : 'rb', 'w': 'w+b', 'x': 'x+b', 'a' : 'r+b',
                         'r+b': 'w+b', 'w+b': 'wb', 'x+b': 'xb'}
             filemode = modeDict[mode]
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 8949ab4c75e7f62..8af11ed1da42529 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -249,6 +249,9 @@ Extension Modules
 Library
 -------
 
+- bpo-28231: Make file parameter of ZipFile accept PathLike objects.
+  Initial patch by Ethan Furman.
+
 - bpo-28518: Start a transaction implicitly before a DML statement.
   Patch by Aviv Palivoda.