diff --git a/src/libfetchers/path.cc b/src/libfetchers/path.cc
index 3c4b9c06d..aa0411ff9 100644
--- a/src/libfetchers/path.cc
+++ b/src/libfetchers/path.cc
@@ -123,8 +123,6 @@ struct PathInputScheme : InputScheme
 
         auto absPath = getAbsPath(input);
 
-        Activity act(*logger, lvlTalkative, actUnknown, fmt("copying %s to the store", absPath));
-
         // FIXME: check whether access to 'path' is allowed.
         auto storePath = store->maybeParseStorePath(absPath.string());
 
@@ -133,43 +131,33 @@ struct PathInputScheme : InputScheme
 
         time_t mtime = 0;
         if (!storePath || storePath->name() != "source" || !store->isValidPath(*storePath)) {
+            Activity act(*logger, lvlTalkative, actUnknown, fmt("copying %s to the store", absPath));
             // FIXME: try to substitute storePath.
             auto src = sinkToSource(
                 [&](Sink & sink) { mtime = dumpPathAndGetMtime(absPath.string(), sink, defaultPathFilter); });
             storePath = store->addToStoreFromDump(*src, "source");
         }
 
-        // To avoid copying the path again to the /nix/store, we need to add a cache entry.
-        ContentAddressMethod method = ContentAddressMethod::Raw::NixArchive;
-        auto fp = getFingerprint(store, input);
-        if (fp) {
-            auto cacheKey = makeFetchToStoreCacheKey(input.getName(), *fp, method, "/");
-            input.settings->getCache()->upsert(cacheKey, *store, {}, *storePath);
-        }
+        auto accessor = ref{store->getFSAccessor(*storePath)};
+
+        // To prevent `fetchToStore()` copying the path again to Nix
+        // store, pre-create an entry in the fetcher cache.
+        auto info = store->queryPathInfo(*storePath);
+        accessor->fingerprint =
+            fmt("path:%s", store->queryPathInfo(*storePath)->narHash.to_string(HashFormat::SRI, true));
+        input.settings->getCache()->upsert(
+            makeFetchToStoreCacheKey(
+                input.getName(), *accessor->fingerprint, ContentAddressMethod::Raw::NixArchive, "/"),
+            *store,
+            {},
+            *storePath);
 
         /* Trust the lastModified value supplied by the user, if
            any. It's not a "secure" attribute so we don't care. */
         if (!input.getLastModified())
             input.attrs.insert_or_assign("lastModified", uint64_t(mtime));
 
-        return {ref{store->getFSAccessor(*storePath)}, std::move(input)};
-    }
-
-    std::optional<std::string> getFingerprint(ref<Store> store, const Input & input) const override
-    {
-        if (isRelative(input))
-            return std::nullopt;
-
-        /* If this path is in the Nix store, use the hash of the
-           store object and the subpath. */
-        auto path = getAbsPath(input);
-        try {
-            auto [storePath, subPath] = store->toStorePath(path.string());
-            auto info = store->queryPathInfo(storePath);
-            return fmt("path:%s:%s", info->narHash.to_string(HashFormat::Base16, false), subPath);
-        } catch (Error &) {
-            return std::nullopt;
-        }
+        return {accessor, std::move(input)};
     }
 
     std::optional<ExperimentalFeature> experimentalFeature() const override