diff --git a/src/basic/cgroup-util.c b/src/basic/cgroup-util.c
index b52104768f..63aee015d0 100644
--- a/src/basic/cgroup-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/cgroup-util.c
@@ -1278,7 +1278,7 @@ int cg_split_spec(const char *spec, char **controller, char **path) {
         assert(spec);
 
         if (*spec == '/') {
-                if (!path_is_safe(spec))
+                if (!path_is_normalized(spec))
                         return -EINVAL;
 
                 if (path) {
@@ -1331,7 +1331,7 @@ int cg_split_spec(const char *spec, char **controller, char **path) {
                         return -ENOMEM;
                 }
 
-                if (!path_is_safe(u) ||
+                if (!path_is_normalized(u) ||
                     !path_is_absolute(u)) {
                         free(t);
                         free(u);
diff --git a/src/basic/fs-util.c b/src/basic/fs-util.c
index 946f779a32..f3cb5d207a 100644
--- a/src/basic/fs-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/fs-util.c
@@ -509,7 +509,7 @@ static int getenv_tmp_dir(const char **ret_path) {
                         r = -ENOTDIR;
                         goto next;
                 }
-                if (!path_is_safe(e)) {
+                if (!path_is_normalized(e)) {
                         r = -EPERM;
                         goto next;
                 }
@@ -707,7 +707,7 @@ int chase_symlinks(const char *path, const char *original_root, unsigned flags,
 
                         if (errno == ENOENT &&
                             (flags & CHASE_NONEXISTENT) &&
-                            (isempty(todo) || path_is_safe(todo))) {
+                            (isempty(todo) || path_is_normalized(todo))) {
 
                                 /* If CHASE_NONEXISTENT is set, and the path does not exist, then that's OK, return
                                  * what we got so far. But don't allow this if the remaining path contains "../ or "./"
diff --git a/src/basic/path-util.c b/src/basic/path-util.c
index 6c06bd2acb..9fac7ff6ec 100644
--- a/src/basic/path-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/path-util.c
@@ -721,7 +721,7 @@ bool filename_is_valid(const char *p) {
         return true;
 }
 
-bool path_is_safe(const char *p) {
+bool path_is_normalized(const char *p) {
 
         if (isempty(p))
                 return false;
@@ -735,7 +735,6 @@ bool path_is_safe(const char *p) {
         if (strlen(p)+1 > PATH_MAX)
                 return false;
 
-        /* The following two checks are not really dangerous, but hey, they still are confusing */
         if (startswith(p, "./") || endswith(p, "/.") || strstr(p, "/./"))
                 return false;
 
diff --git a/src/basic/path-util.h b/src/basic/path-util.h
index 546246595c..4b1410a21b 100644
--- a/src/basic/path-util.h
+++ b/src/basic/path-util.h
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ int parse_path_argument_and_warn(const char *path, bool suppress_root, char **ar
 char* dirname_malloc(const char *path);
 
 bool filename_is_valid(const char *p) _pure_;
-bool path_is_safe(const char *p) _pure_;
+bool path_is_normalized(const char *p) _pure_;
 
 char *file_in_same_dir(const char *path, const char *filename);
 
diff --git a/src/basic/unit-name.c b/src/basic/unit-name.c
index 27ce432197..d37b75b72f 100644
--- a/src/basic/unit-name.c
+++ b/src/basic/unit-name.c
@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ int unit_name_path_escape(const char *f, char **ret) {
         if (STR_IN_SET(p, "/", ""))
                 s = strdup("-");
         else {
-                if (!path_is_safe(p))
+                if (!path_is_normalized(p))
                         return -EINVAL;
 
                 /* Truncate trailing slashes */
@@ -432,7 +432,7 @@ int unit_name_path_unescape(const char *f, char **ret) {
                 if (!s)
                         return -ENOMEM;
 
-                if (!path_is_safe(s)) {
+                if (!path_is_normalized(s)) {
                         free(s);
                         return -EINVAL;
                 }
diff --git a/src/basic/user-util.c b/src/basic/user-util.c
index a691a0d3fc..f1a0958617 100644
--- a/src/basic/user-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/user-util.c
@@ -605,7 +605,7 @@ bool valid_home(const char *p) {
         if (!path_is_absolute(p))
                 return false;
 
-        if (!path_is_safe(p))
+        if (!path_is_normalized(p))
                 return false;
 
         /* Colons are used as field separators, and hence not OK */
diff --git a/src/core/dbus-execute.c b/src/core/dbus-execute.c
index 47446307b7..2889bf96ba 100644
--- a/src/core/dbus-execute.c
+++ b/src/core/dbus-execute.c
@@ -1862,7 +1862,7 @@ int bus_exec_context_set_transient_property(
 
                 if (!path_is_absolute(s))
                         return sd_bus_error_setf(error, SD_BUS_ERROR_INVALID_ARGS, "Path %s is not absolute", s);
-                if (!path_is_safe(s))
+                if (!path_is_normalized(s))
                         return sd_bus_error_setf(error, SD_BUS_ERROR_INVALID_ARGS, "Path %s is not normalized", s);
 
                 if (mode != UNIT_CHECK) {
@@ -2462,7 +2462,7 @@ int bus_exec_context_set_transient_property(
                         return r;
 
                 STRV_FOREACH(p, l) {
-                        if (!path_is_safe(*p) || path_is_absolute(*p))
+                        if (!path_is_normalized(*p) || path_is_absolute(*p))
                                 return sd_bus_error_setf(error, SD_BUS_ERROR_INVALID_ARGS, "%s= path is not valid: %s", name, *p);
                 }
 
diff --git a/src/core/load-fragment.c b/src/core/load-fragment.c
index b4405b5e21..2784f6ba80 100644
--- a/src/core/load-fragment.c
+++ b/src/core/load-fragment.c
@@ -886,7 +886,7 @@ int config_parse_exec_input(
                         return -EINVAL;
                 }
 
-                if (!path_is_safe(resolved)) {
+                if (!path_is_normalized(resolved)) {
                         log_syntax(unit, LOG_ERR, filename, line, 0, "file: requires a normalized path name: %s", resolved);
                         return -EINVAL;
                 }
@@ -1077,7 +1077,7 @@ int config_parse_exec_output(
                         return -EINVAL;
                 }
 
-                if (!path_is_safe(resolved)) {
+                if (!path_is_normalized(resolved)) {
                         log_syntax(unit, LOG_ERR, filename, line, 0, "file: requires a normalized path name, ignoring: %s", resolved);
                         return -EINVAL;
                 }
@@ -4050,7 +4050,7 @@ int config_parse_exec_directories(
                         continue;
                 }
 
-                if (!path_is_safe(k) || path_is_absolute(k)) {
+                if (!path_is_normalized(k) || path_is_absolute(k)) {
                         log_syntax(unit, LOG_ERR, filename, line, 0,
                                    "%s= path is not valid, ignoring assignment: %s", lvalue, rvalue);
                         continue;
diff --git a/src/core/unit.c b/src/core/unit.c
index 25cdc04506..e6f2e23dee 100644
--- a/src/core/unit.c
+++ b/src/core/unit.c
@@ -4460,7 +4460,7 @@ int unit_require_mounts_for(Unit *u, const char *path, UnitDependencyMask mask)
 
         path_kill_slashes(p);
 
-        if (!path_is_safe(p)) {
+        if (!path_is_normalized(p)) {
                 free(p);
                 return -EPERM;
         }
diff --git a/src/machine/machine-dbus.c b/src/machine/machine-dbus.c
index 3cb90be67d..34a3778ad7 100644
--- a/src/machine/machine-dbus.c
+++ b/src/machine/machine-dbus.c
@@ -854,12 +854,12 @@ int bus_machine_method_bind_mount(sd_bus_message *message, void *userdata, sd_bu
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
 
-        if (!path_is_absolute(src) || !path_is_safe(src))
+        if (!path_is_absolute(src) || !path_is_normalized(src))
                 return sd_bus_error_setf(error, SD_BUS_ERROR_INVALID_ARGS, "Source path must be absolute and not contain ../.");
 
         if (isempty(dest))
                 dest = src;
-        else if (!path_is_absolute(dest) || !path_is_safe(dest))
+        else if (!path_is_absolute(dest) || !path_is_normalized(dest))
                 return sd_bus_error_setf(error, SD_BUS_ERROR_INVALID_ARGS, "Destination path must be absolute and not contain ../.");
 
         r = bus_verify_polkit_async(
diff --git a/src/mount/mount-tool.c b/src/mount/mount-tool.c
index 7bd40613c3..f6e845e04a 100644
--- a/src/mount/mount-tool.c
+++ b/src/mount/mount-tool.c
@@ -886,8 +886,8 @@ static int stop_mounts(
                 return -EINVAL;
         }
 
-        if (!path_is_safe(where)) {
-                log_error("Path contains unsafe components: %s", where);
+        if (!path_is_normalized(where)) {
+                log_error("Path contains non-normalized components: %s", where);
                 return -EINVAL;
         }
 
@@ -1568,8 +1568,8 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
                 goto finish;
         }
 
-        if (!path_is_safe(arg_mount_what)) {
-                log_error("Path contains unsafe components: %s", arg_mount_what);
+        if (!path_is_normalized(arg_mount_what)) {
+                log_error("Path contains non-normalized components: %s", arg_mount_what);
                 r = -EINVAL;
                 goto finish;
         }
@@ -1592,8 +1592,8 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
                 goto finish;
         }
 
-        if (!path_is_safe(arg_mount_where)) {
-                log_error("Path contains unsafe components: %s", arg_mount_where);
+        if (!path_is_normalized(arg_mount_where)) {
+                log_error("Path contains non-normalized components: %s", arg_mount_where);
                 r = -EINVAL;
                 goto finish;
         }