diff --git a/src/libs/utils/filepath.cpp b/src/libs/utils/filepath.cpp
index ba27d03dde9..7cc99d0b803 100644
--- a/src/libs/utils/filepath.cpp
+++ b/src/libs/utils/filepath.cpp
@@ -822,6 +822,14 @@ FilePath FilePath::absoluteFilePath(const FilePath &tail) const
     return tail;
 }
 
+FilePath FilePath::normalizePathName() const
+{
+    FilePath result = *this;
+    if (!needsDevice()) // FIXME: Assumes no remote Windows and Mac for now.
+        result.m_data = FileUtils::normalizePathName(result.m_data);
+    return result;
+}
+
 /// Constructs a FilePath from \a filename
 /// \a filename is not checked for validity.
 FilePath FilePath::fromString(const QString &filepath)
diff --git a/src/libs/utils/filepath.h b/src/libs/utils/filepath.h
index e97ee4f2708..691548fd725 100644
--- a/src/libs/utils/filepath.h
+++ b/src/libs/utils/filepath.h
@@ -120,6 +120,10 @@ public:
     FilePath absoluteFilePath() const;
     FilePath absoluteFilePath(const FilePath &tail) const;
 
+    // makes sure that capitalization of directories is canonical
+    // on Windows and macOS. This is rarely needed.
+    FilePath normalizePathName() const;
+
     bool operator==(const FilePath &other) const;
     bool operator!=(const FilePath &other) const;
     bool operator<(const FilePath &other) const;
diff --git a/src/plugins/debugger/debuggerruncontrol.cpp b/src/plugins/debugger/debuggerruncontrol.cpp
index f152dffc094..e1ebd51f4fb 100644
--- a/src/plugins/debugger/debuggerruncontrol.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/debugger/debuggerruncontrol.cpp
@@ -913,8 +913,7 @@ DebuggerRunTool::DebuggerRunTool(RunControl *runControl, AllowTerminal allowTerm
 
     m_runParameters.inferior = runnable();
     // Normalize to work around QTBUG-17529 (QtDeclarative fails with 'File name case mismatch'...)
-    m_runParameters.inferior.workingDirectory =
-            FilePath::fromString(FileUtils::normalizePathName(m_runParameters.inferior.workingDirectory.toString()));
+    m_runParameters.inferior.workingDirectory = m_runParameters.inferior.workingDirectory.normalizePathName();
     setUseTerminal(allowTerminal == DoAllowTerminal && m_runParameters.useTerminal);
 
     const QByteArray envBinary = qgetenv("QTC_DEBUGGER_PATH");
diff --git a/src/plugins/debugger/unstartedappwatcherdialog.cpp b/src/plugins/debugger/unstartedappwatcherdialog.cpp
index 19af428adeb..6f632f1f1d7 100644
--- a/src/plugins/debugger/unstartedappwatcherdialog.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/debugger/unstartedappwatcherdialog.cpp
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ void UnstartedAppWatcherDialog::startStopTimer(bool start)
 
 void UnstartedAppWatcherDialog::findProcess()
 {
-    const QString &appName = Utils::FileUtils::normalizePathName(m_pathChooser->filePath().toString());
+    const QString &appName = m_pathChooser->filePath().normalizePathName().toString();
     DeviceProcessItem fallback;
     foreach (const DeviceProcessItem &p, DeviceProcessList::localProcesses()) {
         if (Utils::FileUtils::normalizePathName(p.exe) == appName) {
diff --git a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/applicationlauncher.cpp b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/applicationlauncher.cpp
index 16c2bb3eeee..8644ec99483 100644
--- a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/applicationlauncher.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/applicationlauncher.cpp
@@ -373,9 +373,9 @@ void ApplicationLauncherPrivate::start(const Runnable &runnable, const IDevice::
 
     if (m_isLocal) {
         // Work around QTBUG-17529 (QtDeclarative fails with 'File name case mismatch' ...)
-        const QString fixedPath = FileUtils::normalizePathName(runnable.workingDirectory.toString());
+        const FilePath fixedPath = runnable.workingDirectory.normalizePathName();
         m_guiProcess.setWorkingDirectory(fixedPath);
-        m_consoleProcess.setWorkingDirectory(FilePath::fromString(fixedPath));
+        m_consoleProcess.setWorkingDirectory(fixedPath);
 
         Environment env = runnable.environment;
         if (m_runAsRoot)
diff --git a/src/plugins/qmlprojectmanager/qmlproject.cpp b/src/plugins/qmlprojectmanager/qmlproject.cpp
index 5e334827f61..7da7d6962cd 100644
--- a/src/plugins/qmlprojectmanager/qmlproject.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/qmlprojectmanager/qmlproject.cpp
@@ -148,10 +148,8 @@ QmlProject::QmlProject(const Utils::FilePath &fileName)
 QmlBuildSystem::QmlBuildSystem(Target *target)
     : BuildSystem(target)
 {
-    const QString normalized
-            = Utils::FileUtils::normalizePathName(target->project()
-                      ->projectFilePath().toFileInfo().canonicalFilePath());
-    m_canonicalProjectDir = Utils::FilePath::fromString(normalized).parentDir();
+    m_canonicalProjectDir =
+            target->project()->projectFilePath().canonicalPath().normalizePathName().parentDir();
 
     connect(target->project(), &Project::projectFileIsDirty,
             this, &QmlBuildSystem::refreshProjectFile);
diff --git a/src/plugins/qtsupport/exampleslistmodel.cpp b/src/plugins/qtsupport/exampleslistmodel.cpp
index 6753dc3ad84..e0de24da1be 100644
--- a/src/plugins/qtsupport/exampleslistmodel.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/qtsupport/exampleslistmodel.cpp
@@ -449,7 +449,7 @@ void ExamplesListModel::parseTutorials(QXmlStreamReader *reader, const QString &
 static QString resourcePath()
 {
     // normalize paths so QML doesn't freak out if it's wrongly capitalized on Windows
-    return Utils::FileUtils::normalizePathName(Core::ICore::resourcePath().toString());
+    return Core::ICore::resourcePath().normalizePathName().toString();
 }
 
 void ExamplesListModel::updateExamples()
diff --git a/src/plugins/valgrind/memchecktool.cpp b/src/plugins/valgrind/memchecktool.cpp
index e243156d842..d12c86b5206 100644
--- a/src/plugins/valgrind/memchecktool.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/valgrind/memchecktool.cpp
@@ -752,7 +752,7 @@ void MemcheckToolPrivate::heobAction()
     }
 
     FilePath executable = sr.command.executable();
-    const QString workingDirectory = Utils::FileUtils::normalizePathName(sr.workingDirectory.toString());
+    const QString workingDirectory = sr.workingDirectory.normalizePathName().toString();
     const QString commandLineArguments = sr.command.arguments();
     const QStringList envStrings = sr.environment.toStringList();