diff --git a/src/libstore/store-api.cc b/src/libstore/store-api.cc
index 14661722d..ab21b0bd5 100644
--- a/src/libstore/store-api.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/store-api.cc
@@ -967,12 +967,20 @@ ref<Store> openStore(const std::string & uri_,
     throw Error("don't know how to open Nix store '%s'", uri);
 }
 
+static bool isNonUriPath(const std::string & spec) {
+    return
+        // is not a URL
+        spec.find("://") == std::string::npos
+        // Has at least one path separator, and so isn't a single word that
+        // might be special like "auto"
+        && spec.find("/") != std::string::npos;
+}
 
 StoreType getStoreType(const std::string & uri, const std::string & stateDir)
 {
     if (uri == "daemon") {
         return tDaemon;
-    } else if (uri == "local" || hasPrefix(uri, "/")) {
+    } else if (uri == "local" || isNonUriPath(uri)) {
         return tLocal;
     } else if (uri == "" || uri == "auto") {
         if (access(stateDir.c_str(), R_OK | W_OK) == 0)
@@ -996,8 +1004,9 @@ static RegisterStoreImplementation regStore([](
             return std::shared_ptr<Store>(std::make_shared<UDSRemoteStore>(params));
         case tLocal: {
             Store::Params params2 = params;
-            if (hasPrefix(uri, "/"))
-                params2["root"] = uri;
+            if (isNonUriPath(uri)) {
+                params2["root"] = absPath(uri);
+            }
             return std::shared_ptr<Store>(std::make_shared<LocalStore>(params2));
         }
         default:
diff --git a/tests/local-store.sh b/tests/local-store.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4ec3d64b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/local-store.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+source common.sh
+
+cd $TEST_ROOT
+
+echo example > example.txt
+mkdir -p ./x
+
+NIX_STORE_DIR=$TEST_ROOT/x
+
+CORRECT_PATH=$(nix-store --store ./x --add example.txt)
+
+PATH1=$(nix path-info --store ./x $CORRECT_PATH)
+[ $CORRECT_PATH == $PATH1 ]
+
+PATH2=$(nix path-info --store "$PWD/x" $CORRECT_PATH)
+[ $CORRECT_PATH == $PATH2 ]
+
+# FIXME we could also test the query parameter version:
+# PATH3=$(nix path-info --store "local?store=$PWD/x" $CORRECT_PATH)
+# [ $CORRECT_PATH == $PATH3 ]
diff --git a/tests/local.mk b/tests/local.mk
index 81366160b..0f3bfe606 100644
--- a/tests/local.mk
+++ b/tests/local.mk
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ nix_tests = \
   gc-auto.sh \
   referrers.sh user-envs.sh logging.sh nix-build.sh misc.sh fixed.sh \
   gc-runtime.sh check-refs.sh filter-source.sh \
-  remote-store.sh export.sh export-graph.sh \
+  local-store.sh remote-store.sh export.sh export-graph.sh \
   timeout.sh secure-drv-outputs.sh nix-channel.sh \
   multiple-outputs.sh import-derivation.sh fetchurl.sh optimise-store.sh \
   binary-cache.sh nix-profile.sh repair.sh dump-db.sh case-hack.sh \