diff --git a/lib/pack.js b/lib/pack.js
index 48548fcbdf55c..8fc89db1a0b2b 100644
--- a/lib/pack.js
+++ b/lib/pack.js
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ class Pack extends BaseCommand {
     for (const { arg, filename, manifest } of manifests) {
       const tarballData = await libpack(arg, this.npm.flatOptions)
       const pkgContents = await getContents(manifest, tarballData)
-      const tarballFilename = path.join(this.npm.config.get('pack-destination'), filename)
+      const tarballFilename = path.resolve(this.npm.config.get('pack-destination'), filename)
 
       if (!dryRun)
         await writeFile(tarballFilename, tarballData)
diff --git a/test/lib/pack.js b/test/lib/pack.js
index cec6e3b8cf555..523ba5d6b535d 100644
--- a/test/lib/pack.js
+++ b/test/lib/pack.js
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ t.test('should pack current directory with no arguments', (t) => {
 
     const filename = `npm-${require('../../package.json').version}.tgz`
     t.strictSame(OUTPUT, [[filename]])
-    t.strictSame(tarballFileName, filename)
+    t.strictSame(tarballFileName, path.resolve(filename))
     t.end()
   })
 })
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ t.test('follows pack-destination config', (t) => {
 
     const filename = `npm-${require('../../package.json').version}.tgz`
     t.strictSame(OUTPUT, [[filename]])
-    t.strictSame(tarballFileName, path.join('/tmp/test', filename))
+    t.strictSame(tarballFileName, path.resolve('/tmp/test', filename))
     t.end()
   })
 })