diff --git a/crates/paths/src/lib.rs b/crates/paths/src/lib.rs
index 0cfbf1d9a16..e0c20a4143b 100644
--- a/crates/paths/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/paths/src/lib.rs
@@ -140,6 +140,11 @@ pub fn parent(&self) -> Option<&AbsPath> {
         self.0.parent().map(AbsPath::assert)
     }
 
+    /// Equivalent of [`Path::join`] for `AbsPath` with an additional normalize step afterwards.
+    pub fn absolutize(&self, path: impl AsRef<Path>) -> AbsPathBuf {
+        self.join(path).normalize()
+    }
+
     /// Equivalent of [`Path::join`] for `AbsPath`.
     pub fn join(&self, path: impl AsRef<Path>) -> AbsPathBuf {
         self.as_ref().join(path).try_into().unwrap()
diff --git a/crates/project-model/src/project_json.rs b/crates/project-model/src/project_json.rs
index ede2dc769e3..80897f7478c 100644
--- a/crates/project-model/src/project_json.rs
+++ b/crates/project-model/src/project_json.rs
@@ -98,24 +98,23 @@ impl ProjectJson {
     /// * `data` - The parsed contents of `rust-project.json`, or project json that's passed via
     ///            configuration.
     pub fn new(base: &AbsPath, data: ProjectJsonData) -> ProjectJson {
-        let absolutize =
-            |p| AbsPathBuf::try_from(p).unwrap_or_else(|path| base.join(&path)).normalize();
+        let absolutize_on_base = |p| base.absolutize(p);
         ProjectJson {
-            sysroot: data.sysroot.map(absolutize),
-            sysroot_src: data.sysroot_src.map(absolutize),
+            sysroot: data.sysroot.map(absolutize_on_base),
+            sysroot_src: data.sysroot_src.map(absolutize_on_base),
             project_root: base.to_path_buf(),
             crates: data
                 .crates
                 .into_iter()
                 .map(|crate_data| {
-                    let root_module = absolutize(crate_data.root_module);
+                    let root_module = absolutize_on_base(crate_data.root_module);
                     let is_workspace_member = crate_data
                         .is_workspace_member
                         .unwrap_or_else(|| root_module.starts_with(base));
                     let (include, exclude) = match crate_data.source {
                         Some(src) => {
                             let absolutize = |dirs: Vec<PathBuf>| {
-                                dirs.into_iter().map(absolutize).collect::<Vec<_>>()
+                                dirs.into_iter().map(absolutize_on_base).collect::<Vec<_>>()
                             };
                             (absolutize(src.include_dirs), absolutize(src.exclude_dirs))
                         }
@@ -142,7 +141,9 @@ pub fn new(base: &AbsPath, data: ProjectJsonData) -> ProjectJson {
                         cfg: crate_data.cfg,
                         target: crate_data.target,
                         env: crate_data.env,
-                        proc_macro_dylib_path: crate_data.proc_macro_dylib_path.map(absolutize),
+                        proc_macro_dylib_path: crate_data
+                            .proc_macro_dylib_path
+                            .map(absolutize_on_base),
                         is_workspace_member,
                         include,
                         exclude,