diff --git a/common/content/io.js b/common/content/io.js
index d3b3886b..c2e1c624 100644
--- a/common/content/io.js
+++ b/common/content/io.js
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ const IO = Module("io", {
         else {
             let dir = io.File(newDir);
             dactyl.assert(dir.exists() && dir.isDirectory(), "E344: Can't find directory " + dir.path.quote());
+            dir.normalize();
             [this._cwd, this._oldcwd] = [dir.path, this.cwd];
         }
         return this.cwd;
diff --git a/common/modules/storage.jsm b/common/modules/storage.jsm
index d30f18c6..895fede9 100644
--- a/common/modules/storage.jsm
+++ b/common/modules/storage.jsm
@@ -547,8 +547,6 @@ const File = Class("File", {
         try {
             // FIXME: should only expand env vars and normalise path separators
             path.appendRelativePath(this.expandPath(tail, true));
-            if (path.exists())
-                path.normalize();
         }
         catch (e) {
             return { exists: function () false, __noSuchMethod__: function () { throw e; } };