diff --git a/_pytest/config.py b/_pytest/config.py
index fe386ed0b1..b1aec120c6 100644
--- a/_pytest/config.py
+++ b/_pytest/config.py
@@ -1257,9 +1257,13 @@ def get_common_ancestor(args):
 
 
 def get_dirs_from_args(args):
-    return [d for d in (py.path.local(x) for x in args
-                        if not str(x).startswith("-"))
-            if d.exists()]
+    possible_dirs = [
+        py.path.local(str(arg).split('::')[0])
+        for arg in args
+        if not str(arg).startswith('-')
+    ]
+
+    return [d for d in possible_dirs if d.exists()]
 
 
 def determine_setup(inifile, args, warnfunc=None):