diff --git a/src/debug-generator/debug-generator.c b/src/debug-generator/debug-generator.c
index c39eb63394..5a18068e26 100644
--- a/src/debug-generator/debug-generator.c
+++ b/src/debug-generator/debug-generator.c
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ static int generate_mask_symlinks(void) {
         STRV_FOREACH(u, arg_mask) {
                 _cleanup_free_ char *p = NULL;
 
-                p = path_join(empty_to_root(arg_dest), *u);
+                p = path_join(arg_dest, *u);
                 if (!p)
                         return log_oom();