diff --git a/src/libutil/source-accessor.cc b/src/libutil/source-accessor.cc
index 131e10e56..484190c9b 100644
--- a/src/libutil/source-accessor.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/source-accessor.cc
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ void SourceAccessor::setPathDisplay(std::string displayPrefix, std::string displ
 
 std::string SourceAccessor::showPath(const CanonPath & path)
 {
-    return displayPrefix + path.abs() + displaySuffix;
+    return displayPrefix + (displayPrefix.empty() ? "" : ":") + path.rel() + displaySuffix;
 }
 
 CanonPath SourceAccessor::resolveSymlinks(