fs.realpath.native in NodeJS uses the Win32 API function GetFinalPathNameByHandle() on Windows hosts, therefore a given path must follow the guidelines for Win32 API file functions. Drive letters on Windows need to end on a backslash according to the Win32 File Naming Conventions (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/fileio/naming-a-file) Omitting the backslash results in Windows treating the remaining path components as a relative path starting from the current directory on the specified disk https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/fileio/naming-a-file#fully-qualified-vs-relative-pathsmain