diff --git a/src/compiler/build/build-finish.ts b/src/compiler/build/build-finish.ts
index ad55b86d..0273e1d7 100644
--- a/src/compiler/build/build-finish.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/build/build-finish.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-import { isFunction, isRemoteUrl } from '@utils';
-import { relative } from 'path';
+import { isFunction, isRemoteUrl, relative } from '@utils';
 
 import type * as d from '../../declarations';
 import { generateBuildResults } from './build-results';
diff --git a/src/compiler/output-targets/dist-collection/index.ts b/src/compiler/output-targets/dist-collection/index.ts
index b301006c..9dd23130 100644
--- a/src/compiler/output-targets/dist-collection/index.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/output-targets/dist-collection/index.ts
@@ -4,10 +4,11 @@ import {
   flatOne,
   generatePreamble,
   isOutputTargetDistCollection,
+  join,
   normalizePath,
+  relative,
   sortBy,
 } from '@utils';
-import { join, relative } from 'path';
 import ts from 'typescript';
 
 import type * as d from '../../../declarations';
@@ -108,10 +109,10 @@ const writeCollectionManifest = async (
   outputTarget: d.OutputTargetDistCollection
 ) => {
   // get the absolute path to the directory where the collection will be saved
-  const collectionDir = normalizePath(outputTarget.collectionDir);
+  const { collectionDir } = outputTarget;
 
   // create an absolute file path to the actual collection json file
-  const collectionFilePath = normalizePath(join(collectionDir, COLLECTION_MANIFEST_FILE_NAME));
+  const collectionFilePath = join(collectionDir, COLLECTION_MANIFEST_FILE_NAME);
 
   // don't bother serializing/writing the collection if we're not creating a distribution
   await compilerCtx.fs.writeFile(collectionFilePath, collectionData);
diff --git a/src/compiler/output-targets/dist-custom-elements/custom-elements-types.ts b/src/compiler/output-targets/dist-custom-elements/custom-elements-types.ts
index 07609e5c..b26da8b7 100644
--- a/src/compiler/output-targets/dist-custom-elements/custom-elements-types.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/output-targets/dist-custom-elements/custom-elements-types.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-import { dashToPascalCase, isOutputTargetDistCustomElements, normalizePath } from '@utils';
-import { dirname, join, relative } from 'path';
+import { dashToPascalCase, isOutputTargetDistCustomElements, join, normalizePath, relative } from '@utils';
+import { dirname } from 'path';
 
 import type * as d from '../../../declarations';
 
diff --git a/src/compiler/output-targets/output-lazy-loader.ts b/src/compiler/output-targets/output-lazy-loader.ts
index dc066335..40929309 100644
--- a/src/compiler/output-targets/output-lazy-loader.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/output-targets/output-lazy-loader.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-import { generatePreamble, isOutputTargetDistLazyLoader, normalizePath, relativeImport } from '@utils';
-import { join, relative } from 'path';
+import { generatePreamble, isOutputTargetDistLazyLoader, join, relative, relativeImport } from '@utils';
 
 import type * as d from '../../declarations';
 import { getClientPolyfill } from '../app-core/app-polyfills';
@@ -49,18 +48,18 @@ const generateLoader = async (
   const es2017EntryPoint = join(es2017Dir, 'loader.js');
   const polyfillsEntryPoint = join(es2017Dir, 'polyfills/index.js');
   const cjsEntryPoint = join(cjsDir, 'loader.cjs.js');
-  const polyfillsExport = `export * from '${normalizePath(relative(loaderPath, polyfillsEntryPoint))}';`;
+  const polyfillsExport = `export * from '${relative(loaderPath, polyfillsEntryPoint)}';`;
   const indexContent = `${generatePreamble(config)}
 ${es5HtmlElement}
 ${polyfillsExport}
-export * from '${normalizePath(relative(loaderPath, es5EntryPoint))}';
+export * from '${relative(loaderPath, es5EntryPoint)}';
 `;
   const indexES2017Content = `${generatePreamble(config)}
 ${polyfillsExport}
-export * from '${normalizePath(relative(loaderPath, es2017EntryPoint))}';
+export * from '${relative(loaderPath, es2017EntryPoint)}';
 `;
   const indexCjsContent = `${generatePreamble(config)}
-module.exports = require('${normalizePath(relative(loaderPath, cjsEntryPoint))}');
+module.exports = require('${relative(loaderPath, cjsEntryPoint)}');
 module.exports.applyPolyfills = function() { return Promise.resolve() };
 `;
 
diff --git a/src/compiler/output-targets/output-www.ts b/src/compiler/output-targets/output-www.ts
index 136038a8..0a08523e 100644
--- a/src/compiler/output-targets/output-www.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/output-targets/output-www.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import { cloneDocument, serializeNodeToHtml } from '@rindo/core/mock-doc';
-import { catchError, flatOne, isOutputTargetWww, unique } from '@utils';
-import { join, relative } from 'path';
+import { catchError, flatOne, isOutputTargetWww, join, relative, unique } from '@utils';
 
 import type * as d from '../../declarations';
 import { generateEs5DisabledMessage } from '../app-core/app-es5-disabled';
diff --git a/src/compiler/prerender/prerender-queue.ts b/src/compiler/prerender/prerender-queue.ts
index 3d6bb053..91bc0fc0 100644
--- a/src/compiler/prerender/prerender-queue.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/prerender/prerender-queue.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-import { buildError, catchError, isFunction, isString } from '@utils';
-import { relative } from 'path';
+import { buildError, catchError, isFunction, isString, relative } from '@utils';
 
 import type * as d from '../../declarations';
 import { crawlAnchorsForNextUrls } from './crawl-urls';
diff --git a/src/compiler/service-worker/service-worker-util.ts b/src/compiler/service-worker/service-worker-util.ts
index 75c96463..c68788b7 100644
--- a/src/compiler/service-worker/service-worker-util.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/service-worker/service-worker-util.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
-import { normalizePath } from '@utils';
-import { relative } from 'path';
+import { relative } from '@utils';
 
 import type * as d from '../../declarations';
 
 export const generateServiceWorkerUrl = (outputTarget: d.OutputTargetWww, serviceWorker: d.ServiceWorkerConfig) => {
-  let swUrl = normalizePath(relative(outputTarget.appDir, serviceWorker.swDest));
+  let swUrl = relative(outputTarget.appDir, serviceWorker.swDest);
 
   if (swUrl.charAt(0) !== '/') {
     swUrl = '/' + swUrl;
diff --git a/src/compiler/transformers/collections/parse-collection-module.ts b/src/compiler/transformers/collections/parse-collection-module.ts
index 040db22e..6196396a 100644
--- a/src/compiler/transformers/collections/parse-collection-module.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/transformers/collections/parse-collection-module.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-import { normalizePath } from '@utils';
-import { dirname, join, relative } from 'path';
+import { join, normalizePath, relative } from '@utils';
+import { dirname } from 'path';
 
 import type * as d from '../../../declarations';
 import { parseCollectionManifest } from './parse-collection-manifest';
diff --git a/src/compiler/transformers/map-imports-to-path-aliases.ts b/src/compiler/transformers/map-imports-to-path-aliases.ts
index b97cfc03..3a07c7b8 100644
--- a/src/compiler/transformers/map-imports-to-path-aliases.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/transformers/map-imports-to-path-aliases.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-import { normalizePath } from '@utils';
-import { dirname, relative } from 'path';
+import { normalizePath, relative } from '@utils';
+import { dirname } from 'path';
 import ts from 'typescript';
 
 import type * as d from '../../declarations';
diff --git a/src/compiler/transformers/rewrite-aliased-paths.ts b/src/compiler/transformers/rewrite-aliased-paths.ts
index 36b406d9..42c1e6e7 100644
--- a/src/compiler/transformers/rewrite-aliased-paths.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/transformers/rewrite-aliased-paths.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-import { normalizePath } from '@utils';
-import { dirname, relative } from 'path';
+import { normalizePath, relative } from '@utils';
+import { dirname } from 'path';
 import ts from 'typescript';
 
 import { retrieveTsModifiers } from './transform-utils';
diff --git a/src/compiler/transformers/rindo-import-path.ts b/src/compiler/transformers/rindo-import-path.ts
index 9323999c..7430e972 100644
--- a/src/compiler/transformers/rindo-import-path.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/transformers/rindo-import-path.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-import { DEFAULT_STYLE_MODE, isString, normalizePath } from '@utils';
-import { basename, dirname, isAbsolute, relative } from 'path';
+import { DEFAULT_STYLE_MODE, isString, relative } from '@utils';
+import { basename, dirname, isAbsolute } from 'path';
 
 import type { ImportData, ParsedImport, SerializeImportData } from '../../declarations';
 
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ export const serializeImportPath = (data: SerializeImportData, styleImportData:
     if (isString(data.importerPath) && isAbsolute(data.importeePath)) {
       p = relative(dirname(data.importerPath), data.importeePath);
     }
-    p = normalizePath(p);
     if (!p.startsWith('.')) {
       p = './' + p;
     }
diff --git a/src/compiler/transformers/static-to-meta/component.ts b/src/compiler/transformers/static-to-meta/component.ts
index 7267a819..3392b80d 100644
--- a/src/compiler/transformers/static-to-meta/component.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/transformers/static-to-meta/component.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-import { normalizePath, unique } from '@utils';
-import { dirname, isAbsolute, join, relative } from 'path';
+import { join, normalizePath, relative, unique } from '@utils';
+import { dirname, isAbsolute } from 'path';
 import ts from 'typescript';
 
 import type * as d from '../../../declarations';
diff --git a/src/compiler/transformers/type-library.ts b/src/compiler/transformers/type-library.ts
index 553d63b2..c21ce940 100644
--- a/src/compiler/transformers/type-library.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/transformers/type-library.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-import { normalizePath } from '@utils';
-import path from 'path';
+import { normalizePath, relative } from '@utils';
 import ts from 'typescript';
 
 import type * as d from '../../declarations';
@@ -30,8 +29,7 @@ export function addToLibrary(
   checker: ts.TypeChecker,
   pathToTypeModule: string
 ): string {
-  pathToTypeModule = path.relative(process.cwd(), pathToTypeModule);
-  pathToTypeModule = normalizePath(pathToTypeModule, false);
+  pathToTypeModule = relative(process.cwd(), pathToTypeModule);
 
   // for now we don't make any attempt to include types in node_modules
   if (pathToTypeModule.startsWith('node_modules')) {
diff --git a/src/compiler/transpile/run-program.ts b/src/compiler/transpile/run-program.ts
index 4044d037..7324b203 100644
--- a/src/compiler/transpile/run-program.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/transpile/run-program.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
-import { getComponentsFromModules, isOutputTargetDistTypes, loadTypeScriptDiagnostics, normalizePath } from '@utils';
-import { basename, join, relative } from 'path';
+import {
+  getComponentsFromModules,
+  isOutputTargetDistTypes,
+  join,
+  loadTypeScriptDiagnostics,
+  normalizePath,
+  relative,
+} from '@utils';
+import { basename } from 'path';
 import ts from 'typescript';
 
 import type * as d from '../../declarations';
diff --git a/src/compiler/transpile/validate-components.ts b/src/compiler/transpile/validate-components.ts
index 2dbf3045..f52dc5f0 100644
--- a/src/compiler/transpile/validate-components.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/transpile/validate-components.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-import { buildError } from '@utils';
-import { relative } from 'path';
+import { buildError, relative } from '@utils';
 
 import type * as d from '../../declarations';
 
diff --git a/src/utils/index.ts b/src/utils/index.ts
index b345a5cb..e7c2ace7 100644
--- a/src/utils/index.ts
+++ b/src/utils/index.ts
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ export * from './logger/logger-rollup';
 export * from './logger/logger-typescript';
 export * from './logger/logger-utils';
 export * from './message-utils';
-export * from './normalize-path';
 export * from './output-target';
+export * from './path';
 export * from './query-nonce-meta-tag-content';
 export * from './sourcemaps';
 export * from './url-paths';
diff --git a/src/utils/logger/logger-typescript.ts b/src/utils/logger/logger-typescript.ts
index 0093148c..7ca829ea 100644
--- a/src/utils/logger/logger-typescript.ts
+++ b/src/utils/logger/logger-typescript.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import type { Diagnostic, DiagnosticMessageChain, Node } from 'typescript';
 
 import type * as d from '../../declarations';
 import { isIterable } from '../helpers';
-import { normalizePath } from '../normalize-path';
+import { normalizePath } from '../path';
 import { splitLineBreaks } from './logger-utils';
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/utils/normalize-path.ts b/src/utils/path.ts
similarity index 86%
rename from src/utils/normalize-path.ts
rename to src/utils/path.ts
index 40cdbbf9..4e8da8e2 100644
--- a/src/utils/normalize-path.ts
+++ b/src/utils/path.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import path from 'path';
+
 /**
  * Convert Windows backslash paths to slash paths: foo\\bar ➔ foo/bar
  * Forward-slash paths can be used in Windows as long as they're not
@@ -187,3 +189,31 @@ const enum CharacterCodes {
   percent = 0x25, // %
   slash = 0x2f, // /
 }
+
+/**
+ * A wrapped version of node.js' {@link path.relative} which adds our custom
+ * normalization logic. This solves the relative path between `from` and `to`!
+ *
+ * @throws the underlying node.js function can throw if either path is not a
+ * string
+ * @param from the path where relative resolution starts
+ * @param to the destination path
+ * @returns the resolved relative path
+ */
+export function relative(from: string, to: string): string {
+  return normalizePath(path.relative(from, to), false);
+}
+
+/**
+ * A wrapped version of node.js' {@link path.join} which adds our custom
+ * normalization logic. This joins all the arguments (path fragments) into a
+ * single path.
+ *
+ * @throws the underlying node function will throw if any argument is not a
+ * string
+ * @param paths the paths to join together
+ * @returns a joined path!
+ */
+export function join(...paths: string[]): string {
+  return normalizePath(path.join(...paths), false);
+}