diff -u b/core/modules/migrate/src/Plugin/migrate/destination/EntityFile.php b/core/modules/migrate/src/Plugin/migrate/destination/EntityFile.php
--- b/core/modules/migrate/src/Plugin/migrate/destination/EntityFile.php
+++ b/core/modules/migrate/src/Plugin/migrate/destination/EntityFile.php
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 use Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityManagerInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityStorageInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\File\FileSystemInterface;
+use Drupal\Core\StreamWrapper\LocalStream;
+use Drupal\Core\StreamWrapper\StreamWrapperManagerInterface;
 use Drupal\migrate\Entity\MigrationInterface;
 use Drupal\migrate\Row;
 use Drupal\migrate\MigrateException;
@@ -26,6 +28,11 @@
 class EntityFile extends EntityContentBase {
 
   /**
+   * @var \Drupal\Core\StreamWrapper\StreamWrapperManagerInterface
+   */
+  protected $streamWrappers;
+
+  /**
    * @var \Drupal\Core\File\FileSystemInterface
    */
   protected $fileSystem;
@@ -33,7 +40,7 @@
   /**
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
-  public function __construct(array $configuration, $plugin_id, $plugin_definition, MigrationInterface $migration, EntityStorageInterface $storage, array $bundles, EntityManagerInterface $entity_manager, FileSystemInterface $file_system) {
+  public function __construct(array $configuration, $plugin_id, $plugin_definition, MigrationInterface $migration, EntityStorageInterface $storage, array $bundles, EntityManagerInterface $entity_manager, StreamWrapperManagerInterface $stream_wrappers, FileSystemInterface $file_system) {
     $configuration += array(
       'source_base_path' => '',
       'source_path_property' => 'filepath',
@@ -43,6 +50,7 @@
     );
     parent::__construct($configuration, $plugin_id, $plugin_definition, $migration, $storage, $bundles, $entity_manager);
 
+    $this->streamWrappers = $stream_wrappers;
     $this->fileSystem = $file_system;
   }
 
@@ -59,6 +67,7 @@
       $container->get('entity.manager')->getStorage($entity_type),
       array_keys($container->get('entity.manager')->getBundleInfo($entity_type)),
       $container->get('entity.manager'),
+      $container->get('stream_wrapper_manager'),
       $container->get('file_system')
     );
   }
@@ -86,7 +95,7 @@
     }
 
     // If the start and end file is exactly the same, there is nothing to do.
-    if ($this->fileSystem->realpath($source) === $this->fileSystem->realpath($destination)) {
+    if ($this->isLocationUnchanged($source, $destination)) {
       return parent::import($row, $old_destination_id_values);
     }
 
@@ -120,6 +129,42 @@
   }
 
   /**
+   * Returns if the source and destination URIs represent identical paths.
+   * If either URI is a remote stream, will return FALSE.
+   *
+   * @param string $source
+   *  The source URI.
+   * @param string $destination
+   *  The destination URI.
+   *
+   * @return boolean
+   */
+  protected function isLocationUnchanged($source, $destination) {
+    if ($this->isLocalTransfer($source, $destination)) {
+      return $this->fileSystem->realpath($source) === $this->fileSystem->realpath($destination);
+    }
+    else {
+      return FALSE;
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns if both the source and destination URIs are local streams.
+   *
+   * @param string $source
+   *  The source URI.
+   * @param string $destination
+   *  The destination URI.
+   *
+   * @return boolean
+   */
+  protected function isLocalTransfer($source, $destination) {
+    return
+      $this->streamWrappers->getViaUri($source) instanceof LocalStream
+      && $this->streamWrappers->getViaUri($destination) instanceof LocalStream;
+  }
+
+  /**
    * Urlencode all the components of a remote filename.
    *
    * @param string $filename
diff -u b/core/modules/migrate/tests/src/Unit/destination/EntityFileTest.php b/core/modules/migrate/tests/src/Unit/destination/EntityFileTest.php
--- b/core/modules/migrate/tests/src/Unit/destination/EntityFileTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/migrate/tests/src/Unit/destination/EntityFileTest.php
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
   public function setUp() {
     parent::setUp();
     $this->destination = new TestEntityFile([]);
+    $this->destination->streamWrappers = \Drupal::getContainer()->get('stream_wrapper_manager');
     $this->destination->fileSystem = \Drupal::getContainer()->get('file_system');
 
     $this->installConfig(['system']);
@@ -84,12 +85,16 @@
    * Test that non-existent files throw an exception.
    */
   public function testNonExistentSourceFile() {
+    $destination = '/non/existent/file';
     try {
-      $this->doImport(['filepath' => '/none/existent/file'], 'public://wontmatter.jpg');
+      // If this test passes, doImport() will raise a MigrateException and
+      // we'll never reach fail().
+      $this->doImport(['filepath' => $destination], 'public://wontmatter.jpg');
+      $this->fail('Expected Drupal\migrate\MigrateException when importing ' . $destination);
+    }
+    catch (MigrateException $e) {
+      $this->assertIdentical($e->getMessage(), 'File <em class="placeholder">' . $destination . '</em> could not be copied to <em class="placeholder">public://wontmatter.jpg</em>.');
     }
-    catch (MigrateException $e) {}
-    $destination = '/none/existent/file';
-    $this->assertIdentical($e->getMessage(), 'File <em class="placeholder">' . $destination . '</em> could not be copied to <em class="placeholder">public://wontmatter.jpg</em>.');
   }
 
   /**
@@ -135,6 +140,11 @@
   public $configuration;
 
   /**
+   * @var \Drupal\Core\StreamWrapper\StreamWrapperManagerInterface
+   */
+  public $streamWrappers;
+
+  /**
    * @var \Drupal\Core\File\FileSystemInterface
    */
   public $fileSystem;