diff --git a/src/libexpr/eval.cc b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
index 46a49c891..bf6b6f8c1 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/eval.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
@@ -532,6 +532,9 @@ EvalState::EvalState(
     , baseEnv(allocEnv(128))
     , staticBaseEnv{std::make_shared<StaticEnv>(false, nullptr)}
 {
+    corepkgsFS->setPathDisplay("<nix", ">");
+    internalFS->setPathDisplay("«nix-internal»", "");
+
     countCalls = getEnv("NIX_COUNT_CALLS").value_or("0") != "0";
 
     assert(gcInitialised);
diff --git a/src/libfetchers/fs-input-accessor.cc b/src/libfetchers/fs-input-accessor.cc
index 81be64482..2efee932d 100644
--- a/src/libfetchers/fs-input-accessor.cc
+++ b/src/libfetchers/fs-input-accessor.cc
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ struct FSInputAccessorImpl : FSInputAccessor, PosixSourceAccessor
         , allowedPaths(std::move(allowedPaths))
         , makeNotAllowedError(std::move(makeNotAllowedError))
     {
+        displayPrefix = root.isRoot() ? "" : root.abs();
     }
 
     void readFile(
diff --git a/src/libfetchers/git.cc b/src/libfetchers/git.cc
index 2fd3fb41e..25600159b 100644
--- a/src/libfetchers/git.cc
+++ b/src/libfetchers/git.cc
@@ -585,6 +585,8 @@ struct GitInputScheme : InputScheme
 
         auto accessor = repo->getAccessor(rev);
 
+        accessor->setPathDisplay("«" + input.to_string() + "»");
+
         /* If the repo has submodules, fetch them and return a mounted
            input accessor consisting of the accessor for the top-level
            repo and the accessors for the submodules. */
diff --git a/src/libutil/posix-source-accessor.hh b/src/libutil/posix-source-accessor.hh
index cf087d26e..a45d96bf8 100644
--- a/src/libutil/posix-source-accessor.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/posix-source-accessor.hh
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ namespace nix {
 /**
  * A source accessor that uses the Unix filesystem.
  */
-struct PosixSourceAccessor : SourceAccessor
+struct PosixSourceAccessor : virtual SourceAccessor
 {
     /**
      * The most recent mtime seen by lstat(). This is a hack to
diff --git a/src/libutil/source-accessor.cc b/src/libutil/source-accessor.cc
index e2114e18f..7813433a7 100644
--- a/src/libutil/source-accessor.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/source-accessor.cc
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ static std::atomic<size_t> nextNumber{0};
 
 SourceAccessor::SourceAccessor()
     : number(++nextNumber)
+    , displayPrefix{"«unknown»"}
 {
 }
 
@@ -55,9 +56,15 @@ SourceAccessor::Stat SourceAccessor::lstat(const CanonPath & path)
         throw Error("path '%s' does not exist", showPath(path));
 }
 
+void SourceAccessor::setPathDisplay(std::string displayPrefix, std::string displaySuffix)
+{
+    this->displayPrefix = std::move(displayPrefix);
+    this->displaySuffix = std::move(displaySuffix);
+}
+
 std::string SourceAccessor::showPath(const CanonPath & path)
 {
-    return path.abs();
+    return displayPrefix + path.abs() + displaySuffix;
 }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/libutil/source-accessor.hh b/src/libutil/source-accessor.hh
index 1a4e80361..264caab16 100644
--- a/src/libutil/source-accessor.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/source-accessor.hh
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ struct SourceAccessor
 {
     const size_t number;
 
+    std::string displayPrefix, displaySuffix;
+
     SourceAccessor();
 
     virtual ~SourceAccessor()
@@ -117,6 +119,8 @@ struct SourceAccessor
         return number < x.number;
     }
 
+    void setPathDisplay(std::string displayPrefix, std::string displaySuffix = "");
+
     virtual std::string showPath(const CanonPath & path);
 };