diff --git a/lisp/vc/vc-git.el b/lisp/vc/vc-git.el
index d6a7145b34e..9c97fcad97d 100644
--- a/lisp/vc/vc-git.el
+++ b/lisp/vc/vc-git.el
@@ -1472,7 +1472,9 @@ line of the commit message in an entry with key \"Subject\"."
                  (if (eq system-type 'windows-nt)
                      locale-coding-system
                    coding-system-for-write)))
-            (vc-git--call input-file t "mailinfo" msg-file patch-file))
+            (vc-git--call input-file t "mailinfo"
+                          (file-local-name msg-file)
+                          (file-local-name patch-file)))
           (goto-char (point-min))
           ;; git-mailinfo joins up any header continuation lines for us.
           (while (re-search-forward "^\\([^\t\n\s:]+\\):\\(.*\\)$" nil t)