diff --git a/abspath.c b/abspath.c
index 0c17e98654e4b0..e899f46d02097a 100644
--- a/abspath.c
+++ b/abspath.c
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ int is_directory(const char *path)
 }
 
 /* removes the last path component from 'path' except if 'path' is root */
-static void strip_last_component(struct strbuf *path)
+void strip_last_path_component(struct strbuf *path)
 {
 	size_t offset = offset_1st_component(path->buf);
 	size_t len = path->len;
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ static char *strbuf_realpath_1(struct strbuf *resolved, const char *path,
 			continue; /* '.' component */
 		} else if (next.len == 2 && !strcmp(next.buf, "..")) {
 			/* '..' component; strip the last path component */
-			strip_last_component(resolved);
+			strip_last_path_component(resolved);
 			continue;
 		}
 
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ static char *strbuf_realpath_1(struct strbuf *resolved, const char *path,
 				 * strip off the last component since it will
 				 * be replaced with the contents of the symlink
 				 */
-				strip_last_component(resolved);
+				strip_last_path_component(resolved);
 			}
 
 			/*
diff --git a/abspath.h b/abspath.h
index 4653080d5e4b7a..06241ba13cf646 100644
--- a/abspath.h
+++ b/abspath.h
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ char *real_pathdup(const char *path, int die_on_error);
 const char *absolute_path(const char *path);
 char *absolute_pathdup(const char *path);
 
+/**
+ * Remove the last path component from 'path' except if 'path' is root.
+ */
+void strip_last_path_component(struct strbuf *path);
+
 /*
  * Concatenate "prefix" (if len is non-zero) and "path", with no
  * connecting characters (so "prefix" should end with a "/").
diff --git a/scalar.c b/scalar.c
index 55137aaa452295..92582890c7ceb7 100644
--- a/scalar.c
+++ b/scalar.c
@@ -482,8 +482,13 @@ static char *default_cache_root(const char *root)
 {
 	const char *env;
 
-	if (is_unattended())
-		return xstrfmt("%s/.scalarCache", root);
+	if (is_unattended()) {
+		struct strbuf path = STRBUF_INIT;
+		strbuf_addstr(&path, root);
+		strip_last_path_component(&path);
+		strbuf_addstr(&path, "/.scalarCache");
+		return strbuf_detach(&path, NULL);
+	}
 
 #ifdef WIN32
 	(void)env;
diff --git a/t/t9210-scalar.sh b/t/t9210-scalar.sh
index 87ee927e2df3fd..a3c350f531b27c 100755
--- a/t/t9210-scalar.sh
+++ b/t/t9210-scalar.sh
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@ test_expect_success '`scalar clone` with GVFS-enabled server' '
 	cache_key="url_$(printf "%s" http://$HOST_PORT/ |
 		tr A-Z a-z |
 		test-tool sha1)" &&
-	echo "$(pwd)/using-gvfs/.scalarCache/$cache_key" >expect &&
+	echo "$(pwd)/.scalarCache/$cache_key" >expect &&
 	git -C using-gvfs/src config gvfs.sharedCache >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual &&