diff --git a/Yoast/Sniffs/Files/FileNameSniff.php b/Yoast/Sniffs/Files/FileNameSniff.php
index c08e1ac3..2946d390 100644
--- a/Yoast/Sniffs/Files/FileNameSniff.php
+++ b/Yoast/Sniffs/Files/FileNameSniff.php
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ private function is_file_excluded( File $phpcsFile, $path_to_file ) {
 			return false;
 		}
 
-		$path_to_file = PathHelper::normalize_path( $path_to_file );
+		$path_to_file = PathHelper::normalize_absolute_path( $path_to_file );
 
 		return isset( $this->validated_excluded_files[ $path_to_file ] );
 	}
diff --git a/Yoast/Tests/Utils/PathHelperTest.php b/Yoast/Tests/Utils/PathHelperTest.php
index 93c448dd..70aec34e 100644
--- a/Yoast/Tests/Utils/PathHelperTest.php
+++ b/Yoast/Tests/Utils/PathHelperTest.php
@@ -15,64 +15,90 @@
 final class PathHelperTest extends TestCase {
 
 	/**
-	 * Test normalizing a directory path.
+	 * Test normalizing an absolute directory path.
 	 *
 	 * @dataProvider data_normalize_path
-	 * @covers       ::normalize_path
+	 * @covers       ::normalize_absolute_path
 	 *
-	 * @param string $input    The input string.
-	 * @param string $expected The expected function output.
+	 * @param string $input        The input string.
+	 * @param string $exp_absolute The expected function output.
 	 *
 	 * @return void
 	 */
-	public function test_normalize_path( $input, $expected ) {
-		$this->assertSame( $expected, PathHelper::normalize_path( $input ) );
+	public function test_normalize_absolute_path( $input, $exp_absolute ) {
+		$this->assertSame( $exp_absolute, PathHelper::normalize_absolute_path( $input ) );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Test normalizing a relative directory path.
+	 *
+	 * @dataProvider data_normalize_path
+	 * @covers       ::normalize_relative_path
+	 *
+	 * @param string $input        The input string.
+	 * @param string $unused       Unused param.
+	 * @param string $exp_relative The expected function output.
+	 *
+	 * @return void
+	 */
+	public function test_normalize_relative_path( $input, $unused, $exp_relative ) {
+		$this->assertSame( $exp_relative, PathHelper::normalize_relative_path( $input ) );
 	}
 
 	/**
 	 * Data provider.
 	 *
-	 * @see test_normalize_path() For the array format.
+	 * @see test_normalize_absolute_path() For the array format.
+	 * @see test_normalize_relative_path() For the array format.
 	 *
 	 * @return array<string, array<string, string>>
 	 */
 	public static function data_normalize_path() {
 		return [
 			'path is dot' => [
-				'input'    => '.',
-				'expected' => './',
+				'input'        => '.',
+				'exp_absolute' => './',
+				'exp_relative' => './',
 			],
 			'path containing forward slashes only with trailing slash' => [
-				'input'    => 'my/path/to/',
-				'expected' => 'my/path/to/',
+				'input'        => 'my/path/to/',
+				'exp_absolute' => 'my/path/to/',
+				'exp_relative' => 'my/path/to/',
 			],
 			'path containing forward slashes only without trailing slash' => [
-				'input'    => 'my/path/to',
-				'expected' => 'my/path/to/',
+				'input'        => 'my/path/to',
+				'exp_absolute' => 'my/path/to/',
+				'exp_relative' => 'my/path/to/',
 			],
 			'path containing forward slashes only with leading and trailing slash' => [
-				'input'    => '/my/path/to/',
-				'expected' => 'my/path/to/',
+				'input'        => '/my/path/to/',
+				'exp_absolute' => '/my/path/to/',
+				'exp_relative' => 'my/path/to/',
 			],
 			'path containing back-slashes only with trailing slash' => [
-				'input'    => 'my\path\to\\',
-				'expected' => 'my/path/to/',
+				'input'        => 'my\path\to\\',
+				'exp_absolute' => 'my/path/to/',
+				'exp_relative' => 'my/path/to/',
 			],
 			'path containing back-slashes only without trailing slash' => [
-				'input'    => 'my\path\to',
-				'expected' => 'my/path/to/',
+				'input'        => 'my\path\to',
+				'exp_absolute' => 'my/path/to/',
+				'exp_relative' => 'my/path/to/',
 			],
 			'path containing back-slashes only with leading, no trailing slash' => [
-				'input'    => '\my\path\to',
-				'expected' => 'my/path/to/',
+				'input'        => '\my\path\to',
+				'exp_absolute' => '/my/path/to/',
+				'exp_relative' => 'my/path/to/',
 			],
 			'path containing a mix of forward and backslashes with leading and trailing slash' => [
-				'input'    => '/my\path/to\\',
-				'expected' => 'my/path/to/',
+				'input'        => '/my\path/to\\',
+				'exp_absolute' => '/my/path/to/',
+				'exp_relative' => 'my/path/to/',
 			],
 			'path containing a mix of forward and backslashes without trailing slash' => [
-				'input'    => 'my\path/to',
-				'expected' => 'my/path/to/',
+				'input'        => 'my\path/to',
+				'exp_absolute' => 'my/path/to/',
+				'exp_relative' => 'my/path/to/',
 			],
 		];
 	}
diff --git a/Yoast/Tests/Utils/PathValidationHelperTest.php b/Yoast/Tests/Utils/PathValidationHelperTest.php
index c5044992..b464305a 100644
--- a/Yoast/Tests/Utils/PathValidationHelperTest.php
+++ b/Yoast/Tests/Utils/PathValidationHelperTest.php
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ final class PathValidationHelperTest extends NonSniffTestCase {
 	 *
 	 * @var string
 	 */
-	private const CLEAN_BASEPATH = 'base/path/';
+	private const CLEAN_BASEPATH = '/base/path/';
 
 	/**
 	 * Test converting a set of relative paths to absolute paths when no basepath is present.
diff --git a/Yoast/Utils/PathHelper.php b/Yoast/Utils/PathHelper.php
index 4372aac8..866d41d0 100644
--- a/Yoast/Utils/PathHelper.php
+++ b/Yoast/Utils/PathHelper.php
@@ -20,17 +20,26 @@
 final class PathHelper {
 
 	/**
-	 * Normalize a path to forward slashes and normalize the leading/trailing slashes.
+	 * Normalize an absolute path to forward slashes and to include a trailing slash.
 	 *
-	 * @param string $path File or directory path.
-	 *                     Both absolute as well as relative paths are accepted.
+	 * @param string $path Absolute file or directory path.
 	 *
 	 * @return string
 	 */
-	public static function normalize_path( $path ) {
-		$path = self::normalize_directory_separators( $path );
-		$path = self::remove_leading_slash( $path );
-		return self::trailingslashit( $path );
+	public static function normalize_absolute_path( $path ) {
+		return self::trailingslashit( self::normalize_directory_separators( $path ) );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Normalize a relative path to forward slashes and normalize the leading/trailing
+	 * slashes (no leading, yes trailing).
+	 *
+	 * @param string $path Relative file or directory path.
+	 *
+	 * @return string
+	 */
+	public static function normalize_relative_path( $path ) {
+		return self::remove_leading_slash( self::normalize_absolute_path( $path ) );
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/Yoast/Utils/PathValidationHelper.php b/Yoast/Utils/PathValidationHelper.php
index 9852c1be..20a049b7 100644
--- a/Yoast/Utils/PathValidationHelper.php
+++ b/Yoast/Utils/PathValidationHelper.php
@@ -41,11 +41,11 @@ public static function relative_to_absolute( File $phpcsFile, array $relative_pa
 			return $absolute;
 		}
 
-		$base_path = PathHelper::normalize_path( $phpcsFile->config->basepath );
+		$base_path = PathHelper::normalize_absolute_path( $phpcsFile->config->basepath );
 
 		foreach ( $relative_paths as $path ) {
 			$result_path = \trim( $path );
-			$result_path = PathHelper::normalize_path( $result_path );
+			$result_path = PathHelper::normalize_relative_path( $result_path );
 
 			if ( $result_path === '' ) {
 				continue;