diff --git a/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py b/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
index 2187dcc8f..a96482e68 100755
--- a/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
@@ -2018,6 +2018,7 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
         if opts_cookiefile is None:
             self.cookiejar = compat_cookiejar.CookieJar()
         else:
+            opts_cookiefile = compat_expanduser(opts_cookiefile)
             self.cookiejar = compat_cookiejar.MozillaCookieJar(
                 opts_cookiefile)
             if os.access(opts_cookiefile, os.R_OK):
diff --git a/youtube_dl/__init__.py b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
index 7a0466077..cbd84c3af 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/__init__.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ def _real_main(argv=None):
 
         try:
             if opts.load_info_filename is not None:
-                retcode = ydl.download_with_info_file(opts.load_info_filename)
+                retcode = ydl.download_with_info_file(compat_expanduser(opts.load_info_filename))
             else:
                 retcode = ydl.download(all_urls)
         except MaxDownloadsReached: