diff --git a/src/core/load-fragment.c b/src/core/load-fragment.c
index f3e0667df1..d0f8118481 100644
--- a/src/core/load-fragment.c
+++ b/src/core/load-fragment.c
@@ -606,7 +606,11 @@ int config_parse_socket_listen(
                         return 0;
                 }
 
-                r = path_simplify_and_warn(k, PATH_CHECK_ABSOLUTE|PATH_CHECK_NON_API_VFS, unit, filename, line, lvalue);
+                PathSimplifyWarnFlags flags = PATH_CHECK_ABSOLUTE;
+                if (ltype != SOCKET_SPECIAL)
+                        flags |= PATH_CHECK_NON_API_VFS;
+
+                r = path_simplify_and_warn(k, flags, unit, filename, line, lvalue);
                 if (r < 0)
                         return 0;