diff --git a/lib/jsdoc/tag/dictionary/definitions.js b/lib/jsdoc/tag/dictionary/definitions.js
index d862fca9..7911c239 100644
--- a/lib/jsdoc/tag/dictionary/definitions.js
+++ b/lib/jsdoc/tag/dictionary/definitions.js
@@ -58,10 +58,9 @@ function filepathMinusPrefix(filepath) {
     var commonPrefix = path.commonPrefix(sourcePaths);
     var result = '';
 
-    filepath = path.normalize(filepath);
-
     if (filepath) {
-        // always use forward slashes
+        filepath = path.normalize(filepath);
+        // always use forward slashes in the result
         result = (filepath + path.sep).replace(commonPrefix, '')
             .replace(/\\/g, '/');
     }