diff --git a/src/borg/patterns.py b/src/borg/patterns.py
index 927fed57e..38dd9a8de 100644
--- a/src/borg/patterns.py
+++ b/src/borg/patterns.py
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ def match(self, path):
         in self.fallback is returned (defaults to None).
 
         """
-        path = normalize_path(path)
+        path = normalize_path(path).lstrip(os.path.sep)
         # do a fast lookup for full path matches (note: we do not count such matches):
         non_existent = object()
         value = self._path_full_patterns.get(path, non_existent)