diff --git a/apps/openmw_test_suite/testing_util.hpp b/apps/openmw_test_suite/testing_util.hpp
index aa76f7f944..b819848a8f 100644
--- a/apps/openmw_test_suite/testing_util.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw_test_suite/testing_util.hpp
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ namespace TestingOpenMW
         void listResources(VFS::FileMap& out) override
         {
             for (const auto& [key, value] : mFiles)
-                out.emplace(VFS::Path::normalizeFilename(key), value);
+                out.emplace(key, value);
         }
 
         bool contains(std::string_view file) const override { return mFiles.contains(file); }
diff --git a/components/vfs/filemap.hpp b/components/vfs/filemap.hpp
index 808153fc05..1b7d390d88 100644
--- a/components/vfs/filemap.hpp
+++ b/components/vfs/filemap.hpp
@@ -8,7 +8,12 @@ namespace VFS
 {
     class File;
 
-    using FileMap = std::map<std::string, File*, std::less<>>;
+    namespace Path
+    {
+        class Normalized;
+    }
+
+    using FileMap = std::map<Path::Normalized, File*, std::less<>>;
 }
 
 #endif
diff --git a/components/vfs/manager.cpp b/components/vfs/manager.cpp
index 5315f17252..d312ce9d84 100644
--- a/components/vfs/manager.cpp
+++ b/components/vfs/manager.cpp
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ namespace VFS
             return { mIndex.begin(), mIndex.end() };
         std::string normalized = Path::normalizeFilename(path);
         const auto it = mIndex.lower_bound(normalized);
-        if (it == mIndex.end() || !it->first.starts_with(normalized))
+        if (it == mIndex.end() || !it->first.view().starts_with(normalized))
             return { it, it };
         ++normalized.back();
         return { it, mIndex.lower_bound(normalized) };
diff --git a/components/vfs/pathutil.hpp b/components/vfs/pathutil.hpp
index 724b406f1d..9bcc263842 100644
--- a/components/vfs/pathutil.hpp
+++ b/components/vfs/pathutil.hpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include <components/misc/strings/lower.hpp>
 
 #include <algorithm>
+#include <ostream>
 #include <string>
 #include <string_view>
 
@@ -51,6 +52,73 @@ namespace VFS::Path
 
         bool operator()(std::string_view left, std::string_view right) const { return pathLess(left, right); }
     };
+
+    class Normalized
+    {
+    public:
+        Normalized() = default;
+
+        Normalized(std::string_view value)
+            : mValue(normalizeFilename(value))
+        {
+        }
+
+        Normalized(const char* value)
+            : Normalized(std::string_view(value))
+        {
+        }
+
+        Normalized(const std::string& value)
+            : Normalized(std::string_view(value))
+        {
+        }
+
+        explicit Normalized(std::string&& value)
+            : mValue(std::move(value))
+        {
+            normalizeFilenameInPlace(mValue);
+        }
+
+        const std::string& value() const& { return mValue; }
+
+        std::string value() && { return std::move(mValue); }
+
+        std::string_view view() const { return mValue; }
+
+        operator std::string_view() const { return mValue; }
+
+        operator const std::string&() const { return mValue; }
+
+        friend bool operator==(const Normalized& lhs, const Normalized& rhs) = default;
+
+        template <class T>
+        friend bool operator==(const Normalized& lhs, const T& rhs)
+        {
+            return lhs.mValue == rhs;
+        }
+
+        friend bool operator<(const Normalized& lhs, const Normalized& rhs) { return lhs.mValue < rhs.mValue; }
+
+        template <class T>
+        friend bool operator<(const Normalized& lhs, const T& rhs)
+        {
+            return lhs.mValue < rhs;
+        }
+
+        template <class T>
+        friend bool operator<(const T& lhs, const Normalized& rhs)
+        {
+            return lhs < rhs.mValue;
+        }
+
+        friend std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& stream, const Normalized& value)
+        {
+            return stream << value.mValue;
+        }
+
+    private:
+        std::string mValue;
+    };
 }
 
 #endif
diff --git a/components/vfs/recursivedirectoryiterator.hpp b/components/vfs/recursivedirectoryiterator.hpp
index 82f8e594fd..39fb26e873 100644
--- a/components/vfs/recursivedirectoryiterator.hpp
+++ b/components/vfs/recursivedirectoryiterator.hpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include <string>
 
 #include "filemap.hpp"
+#include "pathutil.hpp"
 
 namespace VFS
 {
@@ -15,9 +16,9 @@ namespace VFS
         {
         }
 
-        const std::string& operator*() const { return mIt->first; }
+        const std::string& operator*() const { return mIt->first.value(); }
 
-        const std::string* operator->() const { return &mIt->first; }
+        const std::string* operator->() const { return &mIt->first.value(); }
 
         RecursiveDirectoryIterator& operator++()
         {