diff --git a/winsup/cygwin/path.cc b/winsup/cygwin/path.cc
index 4df389bba..eaf695b81 100644
--- a/winsup/cygwin/path.cc
+++ b/winsup/cygwin/path.cc
@@ -718,6 +718,7 @@ path_conv::check (const char *src, unsigned opt,
 	  /* FIXME: Do we have to worry about multiple \'s here? */
 	  component = 0;		// Number of translated components
 	  sym.contents[0] = '\0';
+	  sym.path_flags = 0;
 
 	  int symlen = 0;
 
@@ -912,7 +913,6 @@ path_conv::check (const char *src, unsigned opt,
 		{
 		  fileattr = 0;
 		  mount_flags = sym.mount_flags;
-		  path_flags = sym.path_flags;
 		  if (component)
 		    {
 		      error = ENOTDIR;
diff --git a/winsup/cygwin/release/3.4.4 b/winsup/cygwin/release/3.4.4
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6ac702375
--- /dev/null
+++ b/winsup/cygwin/release/3.4.4
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Bug Fixes
+---------
+
+- Fix an uninitialized variable having weird side-effects in path handling.
+  Addresses: https://cygwin.com/pipermail/cygwin/2022-December/252734.html