diff --git a/src/dwarfs/util.cpp b/src/dwarfs/util.cpp
index 298190808..66055731f 100644
--- a/src/dwarfs/util.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfs/util.cpp
@@ -306,15 +306,17 @@ void shorten_path_string(std::string& path, char separator, size_t max_len) {
 
 std::filesystem::path canonical_path(std::filesystem::path p) {
   if (!p.empty()) {
-#ifdef _WIN32
-    p = std::filesystem::path(L"\\\\?\\" + p.wstring());
-#endif
-
     try {
       p = std::filesystem::canonical(p);
     } catch (std::filesystem::filesystem_error const&) {
       p = std::filesystem::absolute(p);
     }
+
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    if (auto wstr = p.wstring(); !wstr.starts_with(L"\\\\")) {
+      p = std::filesystem::path(L"\\\\?\\" + wstr);
+    }
+#endif
   }
 
   return p;