diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 2363db11b..d6901fe5f 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 * Fixed bug that completely broke non-autotagged imports ("import -A").
 * Fixed bug that logged the wrong paths when using "import -l".
 * Fixed autotagging for the creatively-named band !!!.
+* Fixed normalization of relative paths.
 * Efficiency tweak should reduce the number of MusicBrainz queries per
   autotagged album.
 * A new "-v" command line switch enables debugging output.
diff --git a/beets/library.py b/beets/library.py
index 4e89dee34..421d34894 100644
--- a/beets/library.py
+++ b/beets/library.py
@@ -283,6 +283,8 @@ class Item(object):
         """
         if read_path is None:
             read_path = self.path
+        else:
+            read_path = _normpath(read_path)
         f = MediaFile(read_path)
 
         for key in ITEM_KEYS_META: