diff --git a/src/basic/fs-util.c b/src/basic/fs-util.c
index d1272fb04b..a0898bf4f5 100644
--- a/src/basic/fs-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/fs-util.c
@@ -406,13 +406,7 @@ int symlink_idempotent(const char *from, const char *to, bool make_relative) {
         assert(to);
 
         if (make_relative) {
-                _cleanup_free_ char *parent = NULL;
-
-                r = path_extract_directory(to, &parent);
-                if (r < 0)
-                        return r;
-
-                r = path_make_relative(parent, from, &relpath);
+                r = path_make_relative_parent(to, from, &relpath);
                 if (r < 0)
                         return r;