diff --git a/src/libutil/executable-path.cc b/src/libutil/executable-path.cc
index ebd522a41..8d665c7df 100644
--- a/src/libutil/executable-path.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/executable-path.cc
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ ExecutablePath::findName(const OsString & exe, std::function<bool(const fs::path
     for (auto & dir : directories) {
         auto candidate = dir / exe;
         if (isExecutable(candidate))
-            return std::filesystem::canonical(candidate);
+            return candidate.lexically_normal();
     }
 
     return std::nullopt;
diff --git a/src/nix/upgrade-nix.cc b/src/nix/upgrade-nix.cc
index f54cc59d0..a4722abf5 100644
--- a/src/nix/upgrade-nix.cc
+++ b/src/nix/upgrade-nix.cc
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ struct CmdUpgradeNix : MixDryRun, StoreCommand
         auto whereOpt = ExecutablePath::load().findName(OS_STR("nix-env"));
         if (!whereOpt)
             throw Error("couldn't figure out how Nix is installed, so I can't upgrade it");
-        auto & where = *whereOpt;
+        const auto & where = whereOpt->parent_path();
 
         printInfo("found Nix in '%s'", where);