diff --git a/compiler/docgen.nim b/compiler/docgen.nim
index e4325aaafde08..a09f54c165178 100644
--- a/compiler/docgen.nim
+++ b/compiler/docgen.nim
@@ -1072,6 +1072,7 @@ proc writeOutput*(d: PDoc, useWarning = false) =
     if not writeRope(content, outfile):
       rawMessage(d.conf, if useWarning: warnCannotOpenFile else: errCannotOpenFile,
         outfile.string)
+    d.conf.outFile = outfile.extractFilename.RelativeFile
 
 proc writeOutputJson*(d: PDoc, useWarning = false) =
   runAllExamples(d)
@@ -1089,6 +1090,7 @@ proc writeOutputJson*(d: PDoc, useWarning = false) =
     if open(f, d.destFile.string, fmWrite):
       write(f, $content)
       close(f)
+      d.conf.outFile = d.destFile.extractFilename.RelativeFile
     else:
       localError(d.conf, newLineInfo(d.conf, AbsoluteFile d.filename, -1, -1),
                  warnUser, "unable to open file \"" & d.destFile.string &
diff --git a/compiler/lineinfos.nim b/compiler/lineinfos.nim
index c0826bb5c69e7..b5742e669eb85 100644
--- a/compiler/lineinfos.nim
+++ b/compiler/lineinfos.nim
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ const
     warnUser: "$1",
     hintSuccess: "operation successful: $#",
     # keep in sync with `pegSuccess` see testament.nim
-    hintSuccessX: "$loc LOC; $sec sec; $mem; $build build; $project proj; $output out",
+    hintSuccessX: "$loc LOC; $sec sec; $mem; $build build; proj: $project; out: $output",
     hintCC: "CC: \'$1\'", # unused
     hintLineTooLong: "line too long",
     hintXDeclaredButNotUsed: "'$1' is declared but not used",
diff --git a/compiler/main.nim b/compiler/main.nim
index 7008702411fab..3cafe1f2c018a 100644
--- a/compiler/main.nim
+++ b/compiler/main.nim
@@ -364,7 +364,8 @@ proc mainCommand*(graph: ModuleGraph) =
                 else: "Debug"
     let sec = formatFloat(epochTime() - conf.lastCmdTime, ffDecimal, 3)
     let project = if optListFullPaths in conf.globalOptions: $conf.projectFull else: $conf.projectName
-    let output = if optListFullPaths in conf.globalOptions: $conf.getOutFileFull else: $conf.outFile
+    var output = $conf.absOutFile
+    if optListFullPaths notin conf.globalOptions: output = output.AbsoluteFile.extractFilename
     rawMessage(conf, hintSuccessX, [
       "loc", loc,
       "sec", sec,
diff --git a/compiler/options.nim b/compiler/options.nim
index 9a0fa45b06330..9c17ea1e6d835 100644
--- a/compiler/options.nim
+++ b/compiler/options.nim
@@ -284,8 +284,6 @@ type
                                 severity: Severity) {.closure, gcsafe.}
     cppCustomNamespace*: string
 
-proc getOutFileFull*(a: ConfigRef): AbsoluteFile = a.outDir / a.outFile
-
 proc hcrOn*(conf: ConfigRef): bool = return optHotCodeReloading in conf.globalOptions
 
 template depConfigFields*(fn) {.dirty.} =
diff --git a/compiler/pathutils.nim b/compiler/pathutils.nim
index b73942a216541..e3dd69628856f 100644
--- a/compiler/pathutils.nim
+++ b/compiler/pathutils.nim
@@ -54,8 +54,19 @@ when true:
 
   proc `==`*[T: AnyPath](x, y: T): bool = eqImpl(x.string, y.string)
 
+  template postProcessBase(base: AbsoluteDir): untyped =
+    # xxx: as argued here https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/pull/10018#issuecomment-448192956
+    # empty paths should not mean `cwd` so the correct behavior would be to throw
+    # here and make sure `outDir` is always correctly initialized; for now
+    # we simply preserve pre-existing external semantics and treat it as `cwd`
+    when false:
+      doAssert isAbsolute(base.string), base.string
+      base
+    else:
+      if base.isEmpty: getCurrentDir().AbsoluteDir else: base
+
   proc `/`*(base: AbsoluteDir; f: RelativeFile): AbsoluteFile =
-    #assert isAbsolute(base.string)
+    let base = postProcessBase(base)
     assert(not isAbsolute(f.string))
     result = AbsoluteFile newStringOfCap(base.string.len + f.string.len)
     var state = 0
@@ -63,7 +74,7 @@ when true:
     addNormalizePath(f.string, result.string, state)
 
   proc `/`*(base: AbsoluteDir; f: RelativeDir): AbsoluteDir =
-    #assert isAbsolute(base.string)
+    let base = postProcessBase(base)
     assert(not isAbsolute(f.string))
     result = AbsoluteDir newStringOfCap(base.string.len + f.string.len)
     var state = 0