diff --git a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
index 098f330..149a2ff 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
@@ -257,11 +257,6 @@ ReceiveAndUnpackTarFile(PGconn *conn, PGresult *res, int rownum)
 	 */
 	verify_dir_is_empty_or_create(current_path);
 
-	if (current_path[0] == '/')
-	{
-		current_path[0] = '_';
-	}
-
 	/*
 	 * Get the COPY data
 	 */