diff --git a/src/terminal/kitty/graphics_image.zig b/src/terminal/kitty/graphics_image.zig
index 7bd953ef9..b5c36db80 100644
--- a/src/terminal/kitty/graphics_image.zig
+++ b/src/terminal/kitty/graphics_image.zig
@@ -76,11 +76,15 @@ pub const LoadingImage = struct {
             return error.InvalidData;
         };
 
-        if (builtin.os != .windows and std.mem.indexOfScalar(u8, buf[0..size], 0) == null) {
-            // std.os.realpath *asserts* that the path does not have internal nulls instead of erroring.
-            log.warn("failed to get absolute path: BadPathName", .{});
-            return error.InvalidData;
+        if (comptime builtin.os != .windows) {
+            if (std.mem.indexOfScalar(u8, buf[0..size], 0) == null) {
+                // std.os.realpath *asserts* that the path does not have
+                // internal nulls instead of erroring.
+                log.warn("failed to get absolute path: BadPathName", .{});
+                return error.InvalidData;
+            }
         }
+
         var abs_buf: [std.fs.MAX_PATH_BYTES]u8 = undefined;
         const path = std.os.realpath(buf[0..size], &abs_buf) catch |err| {
             log.warn("failed to get absolute path: {}", .{err});