diff --git a/src/java.base/share/classes/java/nio/file/Files.java b/src/java.base/share/classes/java/nio/file/Files.java
index 729cc7d50f516..2ff8819af1010 100644
--- a/src/java.base/share/classes/java/nio/file/Files.java
+++ b/src/java.base/share/classes/java/nio/file/Files.java
@@ -758,14 +758,15 @@ public static Path createDirectories(Path dir, FileAttribute<?>... attrs)
             // parent may not exist or other reason
         }
         SecurityException se = null;
+        Path absDir = dir;
         try {
-            dir = dir.toAbsolutePath();
+            absDir = dir.toAbsolutePath();
         } catch (SecurityException x) {
             // don't have permission to get absolute path
             se = x;
         }
         // find a descendant that exists
-        Path parent = dir.getParent();
+        Path parent = absDir.getParent();
         while (parent != null) {
             try {
                 provider(parent).checkAccess(parent);
@@ -778,7 +779,7 @@ public static Path createDirectories(Path dir, FileAttribute<?>... attrs)
         if (parent == null) {
             // unable to find existing parent
             if (se == null) {
-                throw new FileSystemException(dir.toString(), null,
+                throw new FileSystemException(absDir.toString(), null,
                     "Unable to determine if root directory exists");
             } else {
                 throw se;
@@ -787,7 +788,7 @@ public static Path createDirectories(Path dir, FileAttribute<?>... attrs)
 
         // create directories
         Path child = parent;
-        for (Path name: parent.relativize(dir)) {
+        for (Path name: parent.relativize(absDir)) {
             child = child.resolve(name);
             createAndCheckIsDirectory(child, attrs);
         }
diff --git a/test/jdk/java/nio/file/Files/CreateDirectories.java b/test/jdk/java/nio/file/Files/CreateDirectories.java
index f49251458c7e8..e3204192cdcbd 100644
--- a/test/jdk/java/nio/file/Files/CreateDirectories.java
+++ b/test/jdk/java/nio/file/Files/CreateDirectories.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2022, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2022, 2023, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 
 /*
  * @test
- * @bug 8032220 8293792
+ * @bug 8032220 8293792 8307976
  * @summary Test java.nio.file.Files.createDirectories method
  * @library ..
  * @run testng CreateDirectories
@@ -91,7 +91,8 @@ public void testSymlinkDir() throws Exception {
     public void testCreateDirectories() throws IOException {
         final Path tmpdir = TestUtil.createTemporaryDirectory();
         // a no-op
-        Files.createDirectories(tmpdir);
+        Path d = Files.createDirectories(tmpdir);
+        assertTrue(d == tmpdir, d + " != " + tmpdir);
 
         // create one directory
         Path subdir = tmpdir.resolve("a");
@@ -120,5 +121,10 @@ public void testCreateDirectories() throws IOException {
         Path root = Path.of("/");
         Files.createDirectories(root);
         Files.createDirectories(root.toAbsolutePath());
+
+        // the returned path should not be absolute
+        Path temp = Path.of(".temp/temp.abc/temp.def");
+        Path a = Files.createDirectories(temp);
+        assertTrue(a == temp, a + " != " + temp);
     }
 }