diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
index 55902ffa366..1af0bdb01a9 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
@@ -1376,7 +1376,7 @@ class AnsibleModule(object):
 
     def _check_type_path(self, value):
         value = self._check_type_str(value)
-        return os.path.abspath(os.path.expanduser(os.path.expandvars(value)))
+        return os.path.expanduser(os.path.expandvars(value))
 
     def _check_type_raw(self, value):
         return value