diff --git a/src/libstore/nar-accessor.cc b/src/libstore/nar-accessor.cc
index 33dde48e5..b1079b027 100644
--- a/src/libstore/nar-accessor.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/nar-accessor.cc
@@ -73,7 +73,9 @@ struct NarAccessor : public SourceAccessor
 
         NarMember & createMember(const CanonPath & path, NarMember member)
         {
-            size_t level = std::count(path.rel().begin(), path.rel().end(), '/');
+            size_t level = 0;
+            for (auto _ : path) ++level;
+
             while (parents.size() > level) parents.pop();
 
             if (parents.empty()) {
@@ -83,7 +85,7 @@ struct NarAccessor : public SourceAccessor
             } else {
                 if (parents.top()->stat.type != Type::tDirectory)
                     throw Error("NAR file missing parent directory of path '%s'", path);
-                auto result = parents.top()->children.emplace(baseNameOf(path.rel()), std::move(member));
+                auto result = parents.top()->children.emplace(*path.baseName(), std::move(member));
                 auto & ref = result.first->second;
                 parents.push(&ref);
                 return ref;
diff --git a/src/libutil/archive.cc b/src/libutil/archive.cc
index 3693a1ffd..e2ebcda0c 100644
--- a/src/libutil/archive.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/archive.cc
@@ -290,11 +290,11 @@ void parseDump(FileSystemObjectSink & sink, Source & source)
     }
     if (version != narVersionMagic1)
         throw badArchive("input doesn't look like a Nix archive");
-    parse(sink, source, CanonPath{""});
+    parse(sink, source, CanonPath::root);
 }
 
 
-void restorePath(const Path & path, Source & source)
+void restorePath(const std::filesystem::path & path, Source & source)
 {
     RestoreSink sink;
     sink.dstPath = path;
diff --git a/src/libutil/archive.hh b/src/libutil/archive.hh
index bd70072ce..2da8f0cb1 100644
--- a/src/libutil/archive.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/archive.hh
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ void dumpString(std::string_view s, Sink & sink);
 
 void parseDump(FileSystemObjectSink & sink, Source & source);
 
-void restorePath(const Path & path, Source & source);
+void restorePath(const std::filesystem::path & path, Source & source);
 
 /**
  * Read a NAR from 'source' and write it to 'sink'.
diff --git a/src/libutil/file-system.cc b/src/libutil/file-system.cc
index 9307a0b53..f75851bbd 100644
--- a/src/libutil/file-system.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/file-system.cc
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ Path dirOf(const PathView path)
 }
 
 
-std::string_view baseNameOf(PathView path)
+std::string_view baseNameOf(std::string_view path)
 {
     if (path.empty())
         return "";
diff --git a/src/libutil/fs-sink.cc b/src/libutil/fs-sink.cc
index b4900cf8b..597272ec9 100644
--- a/src/libutil/fs-sink.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/fs-sink.cc
@@ -84,8 +84,12 @@ struct RestoreRegularFile : CreateRegularFileSink {
 
 void RestoreSink::createRegularFile(const CanonPath & path, std::function<void(CreateRegularFileSink &)> func)
 {
-    std::cout << "SCREAM!!!====== " << dstPath / path.rel() << std::endl;
-    std::filesystem::path p = dstPath / path.rel();
+    auto p = dstPath;
+
+    if (!path.rel().empty()) {
+        p = p / path.rel();
+    }
+
     RestoreRegularFile crf;
     crf.fd =
 #ifdef _WIN32
@@ -136,7 +140,9 @@ void RestoreRegularFile::operator () (std::string_view data)
 
 void RestoreSink::createSymlink(const CanonPath & path, const std::string & target)
 {
-    std::filesystem::path p = dstPath / path.rel();
+    auto p = dstPath;
+    if (!path.rel().empty())
+        p = dstPath / path.rel();
     nix::createSymlink(target, p);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/libutil/git.cc b/src/libutil/git.cc
index f23df566a..a6968a43e 100644
--- a/src/libutil/git.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/git.cc
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ std::optional<Mode> convertMode(SourceAccessor::Type type)
 
 void restore(FileSystemObjectSink & sink, Source & source, std::function<RestoreHook> hook)
 {
-    parse(sink, CanonPath{""}, source, BlobMode::Regular, [&](CanonPath name, TreeEntry entry) {
+    parse(sink, CanonPath::root, source, BlobMode::Regular, [&](CanonPath name, TreeEntry entry) {
         auto [accessor, from] = hook(entry.hash);
         auto stat = accessor->lstat(from);
         auto gotOpt = convertMode(stat.type);
diff --git a/tests/unit/libutil/git.cc b/tests/unit/libutil/git.cc
index 9454bb675..a0125d023 100644
--- a/tests/unit/libutil/git.cc
+++ b/tests/unit/libutil/git.cc
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ TEST_F(GitTest, blob_read) {
         StringSink out;
         RegularFileSink out2 { out };
         ASSERT_EQ(parseObjectType(in, mockXpSettings), ObjectType::Blob);
-        parseBlob(out2, CanonPath{""}, in, BlobMode::Regular, mockXpSettings);
+        parseBlob(out2, CanonPath::root, in, BlobMode::Regular, mockXpSettings);
 
         auto expected = readFile(goldenMaster("hello-world.bin"));
 
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ TEST_F(GitTest, tree_read) {
         NullFileSystemObjectSink out;
         Tree got;
         ASSERT_EQ(parseObjectType(in, mockXpSettings), ObjectType::Tree);
-        parseTree(out, CanonPath{""}, in, [&](auto & name, auto entry) {
+        parseTree(out, CanonPath::root, in, [&](auto & name, auto entry) {
             auto name2 = std::string{name.rel()};
             if (entry.mode == Mode::Directory)
                 name2 += '/';
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ TEST_F(GitTest, both_roundrip) {
             mockXpSettings);
     };
 
-    mkSinkHook(CanonPath{""}, root.hash, BlobMode::Regular);
+    mkSinkHook(CanonPath::root, root.hash, BlobMode::Regular);
 
     ASSERT_EQ(*files, *files2);
 }