diff --git a/git-gui/git-gui.sh b/git-gui/git-gui.sh
index cd8da37f0f..0e5cc89e6d 100755
--- a/git-gui/git-gui.sh
+++ b/git-gui/git-gui.sh
@@ -2107,7 +2107,7 @@ proc do_explore {} {
 		# freedesktop.org-conforming system is our best shot
 		set explorer "xdg-open"
 	}
-	eval exec $explorer $_gitworktree &
+	eval exec $explorer [list [file nativename $_gitworktree]] &
 }
 
 set is_quitting 0