diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7daaa548..2f96a52c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -568,7 +568,7 @@ Babashka sets the following system properties:
 
 - `babashka.version`: the version string, e.g. `"1.2.0"`
 - `babashka.main`: the `--main` argument
-- `babashka.file`: the `--file` argument (normalized using `.getCanonicalPath`)
+- `babashka.file`: the `--file` argument (normalized using `.getAbsolutePath`)
 
 ## `__name__ == "__main__"` pattern
 
diff --git a/sci b/sci
index 12ab6c48..2e4d6e02 160000
--- a/sci
+++ b/sci
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 12ab6c489e0a2a6eba56c108e63b86c53287ab7e
+Subproject commit 2e4d6e027688a9518b9cb25b9f26e274321ac8ab
diff --git a/src/babashka/impl/classpath.clj b/src/babashka/impl/classpath.clj
index 63b595e7..d1cd286b 100644
--- a/src/babashka/impl/classpath.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/impl/classpath.clj
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@
          (when (.exists f)
            (if url?
              ;; manual conversion, faster than going through .toURI
-             (java.net.URL. "file" nil (.getCanonicalPath f))
-             {:file (.getCanonicalPath f)
+             (java.net.URL. "file" nil (.getAbsolutePath f))
+             {:file (.getAbsolutePath f)
               :source (slurp f)}))))
      resource-paths)))
 
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
               (if url?
                 ;; manual conversion, faster than going through .toURI
                 (java.net.URL. "jar" nil
-                 (str "file:" (.getCanonicalPath jar-file) "!/" path))
+                 (str "file:" (.getAbsolutePath jar-file) "!/" path))
                 {:file path
                  :source (slurp (.getInputStream jar entry))})))
           resource-paths)))
diff --git a/src/babashka/main.clj b/src/babashka/main.clj
index fc99e1ab..eeca9582 100644
--- a/src/babashka/main.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/main.clj
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ If neither -e, -f, or --socket-repl are specified, then the first argument that
       (let [f (io/file f)
             s (slurp f)]
         (sci/with-bindings {sci/ns @sci/ns
-                            sci/file (.getCanonicalPath f)}
+                            sci/file (.getAbsolutePath f)}
           (sci/eval-string* sci-ctx s))))
     {:sci.impl/op :needs-ctx}))
 
@@ -484,9 +484,9 @@ If neither -e, -f, or --socket-repl are specified, then the first argument that
                           (when uberscript (swap! uberscript-sources conj (:source res)))
                           res)))
             _ (when file
-                (let [canonical-path (.getCanonicalPath (io/file file))]
-                  (vars/bindRoot sci/file canonical-path)
-                  (System/setProperty "babashka.file" canonical-path)))
+                (let [abs-path (.getAbsolutePath (io/file file))]
+                  (vars/bindRoot sci/file abs-path)
+                  (System/setProperty "babashka.file" abs-path)))
             ;; TODO: pull more of these values to compile time
             opts {:aliases aliases
                   :namespaces (-> namespaces
diff --git a/test/babashka/file_var_test.clj b/test/babashka/file_var_test.clj
index 6aeb7577..e601523a 100644
--- a/test/babashka/file_var_test.clj
+++ b/test/babashka/file_var_test.clj
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 (ns babashka.file-var-test
   (:require
    [babashka.test-utils :as tu]
+   [clojure.java.io :as io]
    [clojure.string :as str]
-   [clojure.test :as t :refer [deftest is]]))
+   [clojure.test :as t :refer [deftest is testing]]))
 
 (defn bb [input & args]
   (apply tu/bb (when (some? input) (str input)) (map str args)))
@@ -15,4 +16,9 @@
     (is (str/ends-with? f1 "file_var_classpath.bb"))
     (is (str/ends-with? f2 "loaded_by_file_var.bb"))
     (is (str/ends-with? f3 "file_var.bb"))
-    (is (str/ends-with? f4 "file_var.bb"))))
+    (is (str/ends-with? f4 "file_var.bb")))
+  (testing "file var uses absolute path"
+    (is (str/includes?
+         (bb nil (io/file "test" ".." "test"
+                          "babashka" "scripts" "simple_file_var.bb"))
+         ".."))))
diff --git a/test/babashka/main_test.clj b/test/babashka/main_test.clj
index 84c32256..cf89d592 100644
--- a/test/babashka/main_test.clj
+++ b/test/babashka/main_test.clj
@@ -519,7 +519,13 @@
   (is (= "true\nfalse\n"
          (test-utils/bb nil (.getPath (io/file "test-resources" "babashka" "file_property1.clj")))))
   (is (= "true\n"
-         (test-utils/bb nil (.getPath (io/file "test-resources" "babashka" "file_property2.clj"))))))
+         (test-utils/bb nil (.getPath (io/file "test-resources" "babashka" "file_property2.clj")))))
+  (is (apply =
+             (bb nil (.getPath (io/file "test" "babashka" "scripts" "simple_file_var.bb")))))
+  (let [res (bb nil (.getPath (io/file "test" ".." "test" "babashka"
+                                       "scripts" "simple_file_var.bb")))]
+    (is (apply = res))
+    (is (str/includes? (first res) ".."))))
 
 ;;;; Scratch
 
diff --git a/test/babashka/scripts/simple_file_var.bb b/test/babashka/scripts/simple_file_var.bb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4a0a2691
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/babashka/scripts/simple_file_var.bb
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+[*file* (System/getProperty "babashka.file")]