diff --git a/internal/fs/file_windows.go b/internal/fs/file_windows.go
index 2f0969804..cadd69284 100644
--- a/internal/fs/file_windows.go
+++ b/internal/fs/file_windows.go
@@ -103,3 +103,21 @@ func ClearAttribute(path string, attribute uint32) error {
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+// OpenHandleForEA return a file handle for file or dir for setting/getting EAs
+func OpenHandleForEA(nodeType, path string) (handle windows.Handle, err error) {
+	path = fixpath(path)
+	switch nodeType {
+	case "file":
+		utf16Path := windows.StringToUTF16Ptr(path)
+		fileAccessRightReadWriteEA := (0x8 | 0x10)
+		handle, err = windows.CreateFile(utf16Path, uint32(fileAccessRightReadWriteEA), 0, nil, windows.OPEN_EXISTING, windows.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, 0)
+	case "dir":
+		utf16Path := windows.StringToUTF16Ptr(path)
+		fileAccessRightReadWriteEA := (0x8 | 0x10)
+		handle, err = windows.CreateFile(utf16Path, uint32(fileAccessRightReadWriteEA), 0, nil, windows.OPEN_EXISTING, windows.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL|windows.FILE_FLAG_BACKUP_SEMANTICS, 0)
+	default:
+		return 0, nil
+	}
+	return handle, err
+}
diff --git a/internal/restic/node_windows.go b/internal/restic/node_windows.go
index 0d96bdb98..0825992b1 100644
--- a/internal/restic/node_windows.go
+++ b/internal/restic/node_windows.go
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ func (node Node) restoreExtendedAttributes(path string) (err error) {
 // fill extended attributes in the node. This also includes the Generic attributes for windows.
 func (node *Node) fillExtendedAttributes(path string, _ bool) (err error) {
 	var fileHandle windows.Handle
-	if fileHandle, err = getFileHandleForEA(node.Type, path); fileHandle == 0 {
+	if fileHandle, err = fs.OpenHandleForEA(node.Type, path); fileHandle == 0 {
 		return nil
 	}
 	if err != nil {
@@ -118,23 +118,6 @@ func (node *Node) fillExtendedAttributes(path string, _ bool) (err error) {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// Get file handle for file or dir for setting/getting EAs
-func getFileHandleForEA(nodeType, path string) (handle windows.Handle, err error) {
-	switch nodeType {
-	case "file":
-		utf16Path := windows.StringToUTF16Ptr(path)
-		fileAccessRightReadWriteEA := (0x8 | 0x10)
-		handle, err = windows.CreateFile(utf16Path, uint32(fileAccessRightReadWriteEA), 0, nil, windows.OPEN_EXISTING, windows.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, 0)
-	case "dir":
-		utf16Path := windows.StringToUTF16Ptr(path)
-		fileAccessRightReadWriteEA := (0x8 | 0x10)
-		handle, err = windows.CreateFile(utf16Path, uint32(fileAccessRightReadWriteEA), 0, nil, windows.OPEN_EXISTING, windows.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL|windows.FILE_FLAG_BACKUP_SEMANTICS, 0)
-	default:
-		return 0, nil
-	}
-	return handle, err
-}
-
 // closeFileHandle safely closes a file handle and logs any errors.
 func closeFileHandle(fileHandle windows.Handle, path string) {
 	err := windows.CloseHandle(fileHandle)
@@ -147,7 +130,7 @@ func closeFileHandle(fileHandle windows.Handle, path string) {
 // The Windows API requires setting of all the Extended Attributes in one call.
 func restoreExtendedAttributes(nodeType, path string, eas []fs.ExtendedAttribute) (err error) {
 	var fileHandle windows.Handle
-	if fileHandle, err = getFileHandleForEA(nodeType, path); fileHandle == 0 {
+	if fileHandle, err = fs.OpenHandleForEA(nodeType, path); fileHandle == 0 {
 		return nil
 	}
 	if err != nil {