diff --git a/aswb/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/android/filecache/LocalArtifactCacheTest.java b/aswb/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/android/filecache/LocalArtifactCacheTest.java
index 7152b7e605a..e40fa0f8f49 100644
--- a/aswb/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/android/filecache/LocalArtifactCacheTest.java
+++ b/aswb/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/android/filecache/LocalArtifactCacheTest.java
@@ -114,7 +114,9 @@ private LocalFileOutputArtifactWithoutDigest newLocalOutputArtifact(String path)
     String execRoot = workspaceRoot.directory().getAbsolutePath();
     String mnemonic = "k8-opt";
     return new LocalFileOutputArtifactWithoutDigest(
-        new File(execRoot + "/blaze-out" + mnemonic + "/" + path), mnemonic + "/" + path, mnemonic);
+        new File(execRoot + "/blaze-out" + mnemonic + "/" + path),
+        Path.of("blaze-out" + mnemonic + "/" + path),
+        mnemonic);
   }
 
   @Test
diff --git a/aswb/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/android/libraries/UnpackedAarsTest.java b/aswb/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/android/libraries/UnpackedAarsTest.java
index 6ca6ce23b34..3698c57e4a0 100644
--- a/aswb/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/android/libraries/UnpackedAarsTest.java
+++ b/aswb/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/android/libraries/UnpackedAarsTest.java
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@
 import java.io.StringWriter;
 import java.io.Writer;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.zip.ZipEntry;
 import java.util.zip.ZipOutputStream;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nullable;
@@ -185,8 +186,8 @@ public String getConfigurationMnemonic() {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public String getRelativePath() {
-      return file.getPath();
+    public Path getPath() {
+      return file.toPath();
     }
 
     @Nullable
diff --git a/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/command/buildresult/LocalFileOutputArtifact.java b/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/command/buildresult/LocalFileOutputArtifact.java
index 0d9cf997f9a..31e491c2142 100644
--- a/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/command/buildresult/LocalFileOutputArtifact.java
+++ b/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/command/buildresult/LocalFileOutputArtifact.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 package com.google.idea.blaze.base.command.buildresult;
 
 import java.io.File;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 
 /**
  * A variant of {@link LocalFileOutputArtifactWithoutDigest} implementing {@link OutputArtifact}.
@@ -25,8 +26,8 @@ public class LocalFileOutputArtifact extends LocalFileOutputArtifactWithoutDiges
   private final String digest;
 
   public LocalFileOutputArtifact(
-      File file, String blazeOutRelativePath, String configurationMnemonic, String digest) {
-    super(file, blazeOutRelativePath, configurationMnemonic);
+      File file, Path blazeOutPath, String configurationMnemonic, String digest) {
+    super(file, blazeOutPath, configurationMnemonic);
     this.digest = digest;
   }
 
diff --git a/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/command/buildresult/LocalFileOutputArtifactWithoutDigest.java b/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/command/buildresult/LocalFileOutputArtifactWithoutDigest.java
index a856e72c12a..ea80fd34fc6 100644
--- a/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/command/buildresult/LocalFileOutputArtifactWithoutDigest.java
+++ b/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/command/buildresult/LocalFileOutputArtifactWithoutDigest.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 import javax.annotation.Nullable;
 
 /** A blaze output artifact which exists on the local file system. */
@@ -31,13 +32,14 @@ public class LocalFileOutputArtifactWithoutDigest
     implements OutputArtifactWithoutDigest, LocalFileArtifact {
 
   private final File file;
-  private final String blazeOutRelativePath;
+  // The path to the artifact starting with e.g. `blaze-out`
+  private final Path blazeOutPath;
   private final String configurationMnemonic;
 
   public LocalFileOutputArtifactWithoutDigest(
-      File file, String blazeOutRelativePath, String configurationMnemonic) {
+      File file, Path blazeOutPath, String configurationMnemonic) {
     this.file = file;
-    this.blazeOutRelativePath = blazeOutRelativePath;
+    this.blazeOutPath = blazeOutPath;
     this.configurationMnemonic = configurationMnemonic;
   }
 
@@ -58,8 +60,8 @@ public String getConfigurationMnemonic() {
   }
 
   @Override
-  public String getRelativePath() {
-    return blazeOutRelativePath;
+  public Path getPath() {
+    return blazeOutPath;
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -91,6 +93,6 @@ public int hashCode() {
 
   @Override
   public String toString() {
-    return blazeOutRelativePath;
+    return blazeOutPath.toString();
   }
 }
diff --git a/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/command/buildresult/OutputArtifactInfo.java b/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/command/buildresult/OutputArtifactInfo.java
index 43d099d9713..13b3916178b 100644
--- a/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/command/buildresult/OutputArtifactInfo.java
+++ b/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/command/buildresult/OutputArtifactInfo.java
@@ -15,8 +15,26 @@
  */
 package com.google.idea.blaze.base.command.buildresult;
 
+import com.google.common.base.Joiner;
+import com.google.devtools.build.lib.buildeventstream.BuildEventStreamProtos;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+
 /** A descriptor of an output artifact that contains data needed to identify the artifact. */
 public interface OutputArtifactInfo {
   /** The blaze-out-relative path. */
-  String getRelativePath();
+  default String getRelativePath() {
+    Path full = getPath();
+    if (full.getName(0).toString().endsWith("-out")) {
+      return full.subpath(1, full.getNameCount()).toString();
+    } else {
+      return full.toString();
+    }
+  }
+
+  /** The path to this artifact as extracted from the build event stream. */
+  Path getPath();
+
+  static Path pathFromBesFile(BuildEventStreamProtos.File file) {
+    return Path.of(Joiner.on('/').join(file.getPathPrefixList())).resolve(file.getName());
+  }
 }
diff --git a/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/command/buildresult/OutputArtifactParser.java b/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/command/buildresult/OutputArtifactParser.java
index 8071ed2a534..86b93465583 100644
--- a/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/command/buildresult/OutputArtifactParser.java
+++ b/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/command/buildresult/OutputArtifactParser.java
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
  */
 package com.google.idea.blaze.base.command.buildresult;
 
-import com.google.common.base.Joiner;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.buildeventstream.BuildEventStreamProtos;
 import com.intellij.openapi.extensions.ExtensionPointName;
 import com.intellij.util.io.URLUtil;
@@ -23,7 +22,6 @@
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.util.Arrays;
-import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Objects;
 import javax.annotation.Nullable;
 
@@ -60,27 +58,10 @@ public OutputArtifact parse(
       try {
         File f = new File(new URI(uri));
         return new LocalFileOutputArtifact(
-            f,
-            getBlazeOutRelativePath(file, configurationMnemonic),
-            configurationMnemonic,
-            file.getDigest());
+            f, OutputArtifactInfo.pathFromBesFile(file), configurationMnemonic, file.getDigest());
       } catch (URISyntaxException | IllegalArgumentException e) {
         return null;
       }
     }
   }
-
-  default String getBlazeOutRelativePath(
-      BuildEventStreamProtos.File file, String configurationMnemonic) {
-    List<String> pathPrefixList = file.getPathPrefixList();
-    if (pathPrefixList.size() <= 1) {
-      // fall back to using the configuration mnemonic
-      // TODO(brendandouglas): remove this backwards compatibility code after September 2019
-      return configurationMnemonic + "/" + file.getName();
-    }
-
-    // remove the initial 'bazel-out' path component
-    String prefix = Joiner.on('/').join(pathPrefixList.subList(1, pathPrefixList.size()));
-    return prefix + "/" + file.getName();
-  }
 }
diff --git a/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/BazelRenderJarBuilder.java b/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/BazelRenderJarBuilder.java
index 776c9b64fd7..ba690e5a93b 100644
--- a/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/BazelRenderJarBuilder.java
+++ b/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/BazelRenderJarBuilder.java
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ private static OutputArtifact translateOutputArtifact(OutputArtifact it) {
     }
     File srcfsArtifact = new File(hashId.replaceFirst("/google_src", "/google/src"));
     return new LocalFileOutputArtifact(
-        srcfsArtifact, it.getRelativePath(), it.getConfigurationMnemonic(), it.getDigest());
+        srcfsArtifact, it.getPath(), it.getConfigurationMnemonic(), it.getDigest());
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/GroupedOutputArtifacts.java b/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/GroupedOutputArtifacts.java
index 2b25b3337f1..c8e72e3e1ee 100644
--- a/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/GroupedOutputArtifacts.java
+++ b/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/GroupedOutputArtifacts.java
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ private static OutputArtifact translateOutputArtifact(OutputArtifact it) {
     }
     File srcfsArtifact = new File(hashId.replaceFirst("/google_src", "/google/src"));
     return new LocalFileOutputArtifact(
-        srcfsArtifact, it.getRelativePath(), it.getConfigurationMnemonic(), it.getDigest());
+        srcfsArtifact, it.getPath(), it.getConfigurationMnemonic(), it.getDigest());
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/cache/FileCache.java b/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/cache/FileCache.java
index 3e657e07666..4880a2a6a7f 100644
--- a/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/cache/FileCache.java
+++ b/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/cache/FileCache.java
@@ -105,9 +105,7 @@ public FileCache(CacheLayout cacheLayout) {
    */
   public Optional<Path> getCacheFile(Path artifactPath) {
     Path path =
-        cacheLayout
-            .getOutputArtifactDestinationAndLayout(artifactPath::toString)
-            .getCopyDestination();
+        cacheLayout.getOutputArtifactDestinationAndLayout(() -> artifactPath).getCopyDestination();
     return Optional.ofNullable(Files.exists(path) ? path : null);
   }
 
diff --git a/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/sync/workspace/ArtifactLocationDecoderImpl.java b/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/sync/workspace/ArtifactLocationDecoderImpl.java
index 343cd893c8d..3f5435ecfad 100644
--- a/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/sync/workspace/ArtifactLocationDecoderImpl.java
+++ b/base/src/com/google/idea/blaze/base/sync/workspace/ArtifactLocationDecoderImpl.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import com.google.idea.blaze.base.model.RemoteOutputArtifacts;
 import com.intellij.openapi.util.io.FileUtil;
 import java.io.File;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
 import java.util.Objects;
 
@@ -107,8 +108,8 @@ private BlazeArtifact outputArtifactFromExecRoot(ArtifactLocation location) {
     if (ix2 == -1) {
       return new SourceArtifact(decode(location));
     }
-    String blazeOutPath = execRootPath.substring(ix1 + 1);
     String configMnemonic = execRootPath.substring(ix1 + 1, ix2);
-    return new LocalFileOutputArtifactWithoutDigest(decode(location), blazeOutPath, configMnemonic);
+    return new LocalFileOutputArtifactWithoutDigest(
+        decode(location), Path.of(execRootPath), configMnemonic);
   }
 }
diff --git a/base/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/cache/ArtifactTrackerImplTest.java b/base/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/cache/ArtifactTrackerImplTest.java
index 2186f16cc46..534a0cf5d85 100644
--- a/base/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/cache/ArtifactTrackerImplTest.java
+++ b/base/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/cache/ArtifactTrackerImplTest.java
@@ -226,11 +226,11 @@ public void library_sources() throws Throwable {
                         .putAll(
                             OutputGroup.JARS,
                             TestOutputArtifact.builder()
-                                .setRelativePath("out/test.jar")
+                                .setPath("bazel-out/out/test.jar")
                                 .setDigest("jar_digest")
                                 .build(),
                             TestOutputArtifact.builder()
-                                .setRelativePath("out/anothertest.jar")
+                                .setPath("bazel-out/out/anothertest.jar")
                                 .setDigest("anotherjar_digest")
                                 .build())
                         .build())
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ public void library_sources_unbknown_lib() throws Throwable {
                         .put(
                             OutputGroup.JARS,
                             TestOutputArtifact.builder()
-                                .setRelativePath("out/test.jar")
+                                .setPath("bazel-out/out/test.jar")
                                 .setDigest("jar_digest")
                                 .build())
                         .build())
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ abstract static class TestOutputArtifact implements OutputArtifact {
         new AutoValue_ArtifactTrackerImplTest_TestOutputArtifact.Builder()
             .setLength(0)
             .setDigest("digest")
-            .setRelativePath("path/file")
+            .setPath("bazel-out/path/file")
             .setConfigurationMnemonic("mnemonic")
             .build();
 
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ public BufferedInputStream getInputStream() throws IOException {
     public abstract String getDigest();
 
     @Override
-    public abstract String getRelativePath();
+    public abstract Path getPath();
 
     @Override
     public abstract String getConfigurationMnemonic();
@@ -398,7 +398,11 @@ abstract static class Builder {
 
       public abstract Builder setDigest(String value);
 
-      public abstract Builder setRelativePath(String value);
+      public abstract Builder setPath(Path value);
+
+      public Builder setPath(String path) {
+        return setPath(Path.of(path));
+      }
 
       public abstract Builder setConfigurationMnemonic(String value);
 
@@ -408,7 +412,7 @@ abstract static class Builder {
 
   private static OutputArtifact artifactWithNameAndDigest(String fileName, String digest) {
     return TestOutputArtifact.builder()
-        .setRelativePath("somewhere/" + fileName)
+        .setPath("bazel-out/somewhere/" + fileName)
         .setDigest(digest)
         .build();
   }
diff --git a/base/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/cache/CacheDirectoryManagerTest.java b/base/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/cache/CacheDirectoryManagerTest.java
index 1fada3d94bd..8e885650d18 100644
--- a/base/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/cache/CacheDirectoryManagerTest.java
+++ b/base/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/cache/CacheDirectoryManagerTest.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import com.google.idea.blaze.base.filecache.ArtifactState;
 import java.io.BufferedInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 import javax.annotation.Nullable;
 import org.junit.Rule;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -111,8 +112,8 @@ public String getConfigurationMnemonic() {
       }
 
       @Override
-      public String getRelativePath() {
-        return "somewhere/" + fileName;
+      public Path getPath() {
+        return Path.of("somewhere/" + fileName);
       }
 
       @Nullable
diff --git a/base/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/cache/DefaultCacheLayoutTest.java b/base/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/cache/DefaultCacheLayoutTest.java
index 22e8b8d9a43..f0ac51a3929 100644
--- a/base/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/cache/DefaultCacheLayoutTest.java
+++ b/base/tests/unittests/com/google/idea/blaze/base/qsync/cache/DefaultCacheLayoutTest.java
@@ -96,11 +96,6 @@ private CacheDirectories createCacheDirectoryManager() {
   }
 
   private static OutputArtifactInfo testOutputArtifact(String fileName) {
-    return new OutputArtifactInfo() {
-      @Override
-      public String getRelativePath() {
-        return "somewhere/" + fileName;
-      }
-    };
+    return () -> Path.of("bazel-out/somewhere/" + fileName);
   }
 }
diff --git a/base/tests/utils/unit/com/google/idea/blaze/base/sync/FakeRemoteOutputArtifact.java b/base/tests/utils/unit/com/google/idea/blaze/base/sync/FakeRemoteOutputArtifact.java
index 166f4cf2ab4..914fc1850bf 100644
--- a/base/tests/utils/unit/com/google/idea/blaze/base/sync/FakeRemoteOutputArtifact.java
+++ b/base/tests/utils/unit/com/google/idea/blaze/base/sync/FakeRemoteOutputArtifact.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nullable;
 
 /** Use local file to fake {@link RemoteOutputArtifact} that used by tests. */
@@ -48,8 +49,8 @@ public String getConfigurationMnemonic() {
   }
 
   @Override
-  public String getRelativePath() {
-    return file.getPath();
+  public Path getPath() {
+    return file.toPath();
   }
 
   @Nullable
diff --git a/base/tests/utils/unit/com/google/idea/blaze/base/sync/workspace/MockArtifactLocationDecoder.java b/base/tests/utils/unit/com/google/idea/blaze/base/sync/workspace/MockArtifactLocationDecoder.java
index dded915057c..6230f7d3f28 100644
--- a/base/tests/utils/unit/com/google/idea/blaze/base/sync/workspace/MockArtifactLocationDecoder.java
+++ b/base/tests/utils/unit/com/google/idea/blaze/base/sync/workspace/MockArtifactLocationDecoder.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import com.google.idea.blaze.base.ideinfo.ArtifactLocation;
 import com.google.idea.blaze.base.sync.FakeRemoteOutputArtifact;
 import java.io.File;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nullable;
 
 /** Resolves all artifacts to local source files. */
@@ -58,6 +59,8 @@ public BlazeArtifact resolveOutput(ArtifactLocation artifact) {
       return new FakeRemoteOutputArtifact(file);
     }
     return new LocalFileOutputArtifactWithoutDigest(
-        decode(artifact), artifact.getRelativePath(), artifact.getExecutionRootRelativePath());
+        decode(artifact),
+        Path.of(artifact.getRelativePath()),
+        artifact.getExecutionRootRelativePath());
   }
 }