diff --git a/app/models/metadata_file.rb b/app/models/metadata_file.rb
index fa570ac0..4ea026b4 100644
--- a/app/models/metadata_file.rb
+++ b/app/models/metadata_file.rb
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ class MetadataFile < MetadataTemplate
   rescue Errno::ENOENT => e
     ExceptionNotifier.notify_exception(e)
 
-    value['path']
+    Pathname.new(value['path'])
   end
 
   def relative_destination_path_with_filename