diff --git a/src/plugins/git/ide-git-vcs.c b/src/plugins/git/ide-git-vcs.c
index 33f539290c177fb46e1ebfe62c8f2e408fe99678..bd528c8b1e8c0b6d7dc8edc36c1e3dfc13a214c6 100644
--- a/src/plugins/git/ide-git-vcs.c
+++ b/src/plugins/git/ide-git-vcs.c
@@ -281,7 +281,9 @@ ide_git_vcs_load (IdeGitVcs  *self,
                   const gchar *branch;
 
                   g_clear_object (&location);
-                  location = g_file_new_for_path (line + strlen ("gitdir: "));
+                  location = g_file_resolve_relative_path (
+                      g_file_get_parent (project_file),
+                      line + strlen ("gitdir: "));
 
                   /*
                    * Worktrees only have a single branch, and it is the name