IGR J16493−4348 was one of the first new sources to be detected by the INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) γ-ray telescope in the 18-100 keV energy band. Based on spatial coincidence, the source was originally associated with the free radio pulsar PSR J1649−4349. Presented here are the results of 2.8 Ms of observations made by the INTEGRAL mission and a 5.6-ks observation with the Swift/X-ray Telescope (XRT). Spectral analysis indicates that the source is best modelled by an absorbed power law with a high energy cut-off at Ecut∼ 15 keV and a hydrogen absorbing column of NH= 5.4+1.3−1× 1022 cm−2 . Analysis of the light curves indicates that the source is a weak, persistent γ-ray emitter showing indications of variability in the 2-9 and 22-100 keV bands. The average source flux is ∼1.1 × 10−10 erg cm−2 s−1 in the 1-100 keV energy band. No coherent timing signal is identified at any time-scale in the INTEGRAL or Swift data. The refined source location and positional uncertainty of IGR J16493−4348 places PSR J1649−4349 outside the 90 per cent error circle. We conclude that IGR J16493−4348 is not associated with PSR J1649−4349. Combining the INTEGRAL observations with Swift/XRT data and information gathered by RXTE and Chandra, we suggest that IGR J16493−4348 is an X-ray binary, and that the source characteristics favour a high-mass X-ray binary although a low-mass X-ray binary nature cannot be ruled out.