diff --git a/src/filesystem/path-utils.ts b/src/filesystem/path-utils.ts
index 5297c0d2..de0417ec 100644
--- a/src/filesystem/path-utils.ts
+++ b/src/filesystem/path-utils.ts
@@ -53,31 +53,26 @@ export function normalizePath(p: string): string {
   // Convert WSL or Unix-style Windows paths to Windows format
   p = convertToWindowsPath(p);
   
-  // Check if this is a UNC path before normalization
-  const isUNCPath = p.startsWith('\\\\');
-  
-  // For non-UNC paths, normalize double backslashes first
-  if (!isUNCPath) {
+  // Handle double backslashes, preserving leading UNC \\
+  if (p.startsWith('\\\\')) {
+    // For UNC paths, normalize double backslashes *after* the leading marker
+    const restOfPath = p.substring(2).replace(/\\\\/g, '\\');
+    p = '\\\\' + restOfPath;
+  } else {
+    // For non-UNC paths, normalize all double backslashes
     p = p.replace(/\\\\/g, '\\');
   }
   
   // Use Node's path normalization, which handles . and .. segments
   let normalized = path.normalize(p);
   
-  // Handle UNC paths after normalization to preserve the leading \\
-  if (isUNCPath) {
-    // Ensure UNC path starts with exactly two backslashes
-    if (normalized.startsWith('\\') && !normalized.startsWith('\\\\')) {
-      normalized = '\\' + normalized;
-    }
-    // Normalize any remaining double backslashes in the rest of the path
-    normalized = normalized.replace(/^(\\\\)(.*)/, (match, leading, rest) => {
-      return leading + rest.replace(/\\\\/g, '\\');
-    });
+  // Fix UNC paths after normalization (path.normalize can remove a leading backslash)
+  if (p.startsWith('\\\\') && !normalized.startsWith('\\\\')) {
+    normalized = '\\' + normalized;
   }
   
   // Handle Windows paths: convert slashes and ensure drive letter is capitalized
-  if (normalized.match(/^[a-zA-Z]:|^\/mnt\/[a-z]\/|^\/[a-z]\//i)) {
+  if (normalized.match(/^[a-zA-Z]:/)) {
     let result = normalized.replace(/\//g, '\\');
     // Capitalize drive letter if present
     if (/^[a-z]:/.test(result)) {
@@ -86,8 +81,9 @@ export function normalizePath(p: string): string {
     return result;
   }
   
-  // Leave other paths unchanged
-  return normalized;
+  // For all other paths (including relative paths), convert forward slashes to backslashes
+  // This ensures relative paths like "some/relative/path" become "some\\relative\\path"
+  return normalized.replace(/\//g, '\\');
 }
 
 /**