diff --git a/build/psalm-baseline.xml b/build/psalm-baseline.xml
index 7e59e0d212c8e..3b29ccdb643d9 100644
--- a/build/psalm-baseline.xml
+++ b/build/psalm-baseline.xml
@@ -3741,9 +3741,6 @@
     </MoreSpecificReturnType>
   </file>
   <file src="lib/private/Files/Filesystem.php">
-    <InvalidNullableReturnType>
-      <code><![CDATA[string]]></code>
-    </InvalidNullableReturnType>
     <NullableReturnStatement>
       <code><![CDATA[$path]]></code>
     </NullableReturnStatement>
diff --git a/lib/private/Files/Filesystem.php b/lib/private/Files/Filesystem.php
index 022467e754877..f547f738285e9 100644
--- a/lib/private/Files/Filesystem.php
+++ b/lib/private/Files/Filesystem.php
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 use OC\Files\Storage\Storage;
 use OC\Files\Storage\StorageFactory;
 use OC\User\NoUserException;
+use OCP\Cache\CappedMemoryCache;
 use OCP\EventDispatcher\IEventDispatcher;
 use OCP\Files\Events\Node\FilesystemTornDownEvent;
 use OCP\Files\InvalidPathException;
@@ -616,7 +617,7 @@ public static function hasUpdated($path, $time) {
 	 * @psalm-taint-escape file
 	 * @return string
 	 */
-	public static function normalizePath($path, $stripTrailingSlash = true, $isAbsolutePath = false, $keepUnicode = false) {
+	public static function normalizePath($path, $stripTrailingSlash = true, $isAbsolutePath = false, bool $keepUnicode = false) {
 		/**
 		 * FIXME: This is a workaround for existing classes and files which call
 		 *        this function with another type than a valid string. This
@@ -629,27 +630,43 @@ public static function normalizePath($path, $stripTrailingSlash = true, $isAbsol
 			return '/';
 		}
 
-		//normalize unicode if possible
-		if (!$keepUnicode) {
+		// normalize unicode if possible, skipping the ICU normalizer entirely for
+		// plain ASCII paths, which are already in normalization form C
+		if (!$keepUnicode && preg_match('/[\x80-\xff]/', $path)) {
 			$path = \OC_Util::normalizeUnicode($path);
 		}
 
-		//add leading slash, if it is already there we strip it anyway
-		$path = '/' . $path;
+		// Add leading slash if it's missing
+		if ($path[0] !== '/') {
+			$path = '/' . $path;
+		}
+
+		// No null bytes
+		if (str_contains($path, chr(0))) {
+			$path = str_replace(chr(0), '', $path);
+		}
 
-		$patterns = [
-			'#\\\\#s',       // no windows style '\\' slashes
-			'#/\.(/\.)*/#s', // remove '/./'
-			'#\//+#s',       // remove sequence of slashes
-			'#/\.$#s',       // remove trailing '/.'
-		];
+		// No windows style slashes
+		if (str_contains($path, '\\')) {
+			$path = str_replace('\\', '/', $path);
+		}
 
-		do {
-			$count = 0;
-			$path = preg_replace($patterns, '/', $path, -1, $count);
-		} while ($count > 0);
+		// most paths reaching here are already clean, so skip the regex engine entirely
+		// when neither a duplicate slash nor a '.' segment is present
+		if (str_contains($path, '//') || str_contains($path, '/.')) {
+			$patterns = [
+				'#/\.(/\.)*/#s', // remove '/./'
+				'#\//+#s',       // remove sequence of slashes
+				'#/\.$#s',       // remove trailing '/.'
+			];
+
+			do {
+				$count = 0;
+				$path = preg_replace($patterns, '/', $path, -1, $count);
+			} while ($count > 0);
+		}
 
-		//remove trailing slash
+		// remove trailing slash
 		if ($stripTrailingSlash && strlen($path) > 1) {
 			$path = rtrim($path, '/');
 		}
diff --git a/lib/private/Files/Mount/MountPoint.php b/lib/private/Files/Mount/MountPoint.php
index 22a36fd583472..17fce74fe8031 100644
--- a/lib/private/Files/Mount/MountPoint.php
+++ b/lib/private/Files/Mount/MountPoint.php
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@
 
 namespace OC\Files\Mount;
 
-use OC\Files\Filesystem;
 use OC\Files\Storage\Storage;
 use OC\Files\Storage\StorageFactory;
+use OC\Files\Utils\PathHelper;
 use OCP\Files\Mount\IMountPoint;
 use OCP\Files\Storage\IStorage;
 use OCP\Files\Storage\IStorageFactory;
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ public function getNumericStorageId() {
 	 */
 	#[\Override]
 	public function getInternalPath($path) {
-		$path = Filesystem::normalizePath($path, true, false, true);
+		$path = PathHelper::normalizePath($path);
 		if ($this->mountPoint === $path || $this->mountPoint . '/' === $path) {
 			$internalPath = '';
 		} else {
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ public function getInternalPath($path) {
 	 * @return string
 	 */
 	private function formatPath($path) {
-		$path = Filesystem::normalizePath($path);
+		$path = PathHelper::normalizePath($path);
 		if (strlen($path) > 1) {
 			$path .= '/';
 		}
diff --git a/lib/private/Files/Node/Node.php b/lib/private/Files/Node/Node.php
index a599833567fbf..89391a30a5a97 100644
--- a/lib/private/Files/Node/Node.php
+++ b/lib/private/Files/Node/Node.php
@@ -29,31 +29,20 @@
 // FIXME: this class really should be abstract (+1)
 class Node implements INode {
 	/**
-	 * @var View $view
-	 */
-	protected $view;
-
-	protected IRootFolder $root;
-
-	/**
-	 * @param View $view
-	 * @param \OCP\Files\IRootFolder $root
 	 * @param string $path
 	 * @param FileInfo $fileInfo
 	 */
 	public function __construct(
-		IRootFolder $root,
-		$view,
+		protected IRootFolder $root,
+		protected View $view,
 		protected $path,
 		protected ?FileInfo $fileInfo = null,
 		protected ?INode $parent = null,
 		private bool $infoHasSubMountsIncluded = true,
 	) {
-		if (Filesystem::normalizePath($view->getRoot()) !== '/') {
+		if (PathHelper::normalizePath($this->view->getRoot()) !== '/') {
 			throw new PreConditionNotMetException('The view passed to the node should not have any fake root set');
 		}
-		$this->view = $view;
-		$this->root = $root;
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/lib/private/Files/Storage/DAV.php b/lib/private/Files/Storage/DAV.php
index efcceba7e6892..0ae3b8948ebc3 100644
--- a/lib/private/Files/Storage/DAV.php
+++ b/lib/private/Files/Storage/DAV.php
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 use Icewind\Streams\CallbackWrapper;
 use Icewind\Streams\IteratorDirectory;
 use OC\Files\Filesystem;
+use OC\Files\Utils\PathHelper;
 use OC\MemCache\ArrayCache;
 use OC\OCM\OCMSignatoryManager;
 use OCP\AppFramework\Http;
@@ -990,7 +991,7 @@ public function cleanPath(string $path): string {
 		if ($path === '') {
 			return $path;
 		}
-		$path = Filesystem::normalizePath($path);
+		$path = PathHelper::normalizePath($path);
 		// remove leading slash
 		return substr($path, 1);
 	}
diff --git a/lib/private/Files/Storage/Wrapper/Encryption.php b/lib/private/Files/Storage/Wrapper/Encryption.php
index 20af8b1d06277..e7518b34ae84a 100644
--- a/lib/private/Files/Storage/Wrapper/Encryption.php
+++ b/lib/private/Files/Storage/Wrapper/Encryption.php
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 use OC\Files\ObjectStore\ObjectStoreStorage;
 use OC\Files\Storage\Common;
 use OC\Files\Storage\LocalTempFileTrait;
+use OC\Files\Utils\PathHelper;
 use OC\Memcache\ArrayCache;
 use OCP\Cache\CappedMemoryCache;
 use OCP\Encryption\Exceptions\InvalidHeaderException;
@@ -784,7 +785,7 @@ public function hash(string $type, string $path, bool $raw = false): string|fals
 	 * @return string full path including mount point
 	 */
 	protected function getFullPath(string $path): string {
-		return Filesystem::normalizePath($this->mountPoint . '/' . $path);
+		return PathHelper::normalizePath($this->mountPoint . '/' . $path);
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -898,7 +899,7 @@ protected function copyKeys(string $source, string $target): bool {
 	 * check if path points to a files version
 	 */
 	protected function isVersion(string $path): bool {
-		$normalized = Filesystem::normalizePath($path);
+		$normalized = PathHelper::normalizePath($path);
 		return substr($normalized, 0, strlen('/files_versions/')) === '/files_versions/';
 	}
 
diff --git a/lib/private/Files/Storage/Wrapper/Jail.php b/lib/private/Files/Storage/Wrapper/Jail.php
index c17bd1f750ded..8707427c26e32 100644
--- a/lib/private/Files/Storage/Wrapper/Jail.php
+++ b/lib/private/Files/Storage/Wrapper/Jail.php
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
 use OC\Files\Cache\Wrapper\CacheJail;
 use OC\Files\Cache\Wrapper\JailPropagator;
 use OC\Files\Cache\Wrapper\JailWatcher;
-use OC\Files\Filesystem;
 use OC\Files\Storage\FailedStorage;
+use OC\Files\Utils\PathHelper;
 use OCP\Files\Cache\ICache;
 use OCP\Files\Cache\IPropagator;
 use OCP\Files\Cache\IWatcher;
@@ -30,10 +30,10 @@
  * This restricts access to a subfolder of the wrapped storage with the subfolder becoming the root folder new storage
  */
 class Jail extends Wrapper {
-	/**
-	 * @var string
-	 */
-	protected $rootPath;
+	protected string $rootPath;
+
+	/** Normalized, slash-trimmed version of $rootPath */
+	private ?string $normalizedRootPath = null;
 
 	/**
 	 * @param array $parameters ['storage' => $storage, 'root' => $root]
@@ -47,7 +47,15 @@ public function __construct(array $parameters) {
 	}
 
 	public function getUnjailedPath(string $path): string {
-		return trim(Filesystem::normalizePath($this->rootPath . '/' . $path), '/');
+		if ($this->normalizedRootPath === null) {
+			$this->normalizedRootPath = trim(PathHelper::normalizePath($this->rootPath), '/');
+		}
+
+		$normalizedPath = trim(PathHelper::normalizePath($path), '/');
+		if ($this->normalizedRootPath === '') {
+			return $normalizedPath;
+		}
+		return $normalizedPath === '' ? $this->normalizedRootPath : $this->normalizedRootPath . '/' . $normalizedPath;
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/lib/private/Files/Utils/PathHelper.php b/lib/private/Files/Utils/PathHelper.php
index ac29ff20e84f2..a5ba0218ff62c 100644
--- a/lib/private/Files/Utils/PathHelper.php
+++ b/lib/private/Files/Utils/PathHelper.php
@@ -11,48 +11,49 @@
 class PathHelper {
 	/**
 	 * Make a path relative to a root path, or return null if the path is outside the root
-	 *
-	 * @param string $root
-	 * @param string $path
-	 * @return ?string
 	 */
-	public static function getRelativePath(string $root, string $path) {
+	public static function getRelativePath(string $root, string $path): ?string {
 		if ($root === '' || $root === '/') {
 			return self::normalizePath($path);
 		}
 		if ($path === $root) {
 			return '/';
-		} elseif (!str_starts_with($path, $root . '/')) {
+		}
+
+		if (!str_starts_with($path, $root . '/')) {
 			return null;
-		} else {
-			$path = substr($path, strlen($root));
-			return self::normalizePath($path);
 		}
+
+		$path = substr($path, strlen($root));
+		return self::normalizePath($path);
 	}
 
-	/**
-	 * @param string $path
-	 * @return string
-	 */
 	public static function normalizePath(string $path): string {
 		if ($path === '' || $path === '/') {
 			return '/';
 		}
+
 		// No null bytes
-		$path = str_replace(chr(0), '', $path);
-		//no windows style slashes
-		$path = str_replace('\\', '/', $path);
-		//add leading slash
+		if (str_contains($path, chr(0))) {
+			$path = str_replace(chr(0), '', $path);
+		}
+
+		// No windows style slashes
+		if (str_contains($path, '\\')) {
+			$path = str_replace('\\', '/', $path);
+		}
+
+		// Add leading slash if it's missing
 		if ($path[0] !== '/') {
 			$path = '/' . $path;
 		}
-		//remove duplicate slashes
+
+		// Remove duplicate slashes
 		while (str_contains($path, '//')) {
 			$path = str_replace('//', '/', $path);
 		}
-		//remove trailing slash
-		$path = rtrim($path, '/');
 
-		return $path;
+		// Remove trailing slash
+		return rtrim($path, '/');
 	}
 }