diff --git a/HISTORY b/HISTORY
index 9fdfa0e4..9cc1ea56 100644
--- a/HISTORY
+++ b/HISTORY
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
         repmgr: prevent a witness server being registered on the cluster primary (John)
         repmgr: ensure BDR2-specific functionality cannot be used on
           BDR3 and later (Ian)
+        repmgr: canonicalize the data directory path (Ian)
         repmgrd: monitor standbys attached to primary (Ian)
         repmgrd: add "primary visibility consensus" functionality (Ian)
         repmgrd: fix memory leak which occurs while the monitored PostgreSQL
diff --git a/configfile.c b/configfile.c
index 0e5f93b0..d974895f 100644
--- a/configfile.c
+++ b/configfile.c
@@ -502,10 +502,15 @@ _parse_config(t_configuration_options *options, ItemList *error_list, ItemList *
 		else if (strcmp(name, "conninfo") == 0)
 			strncpy(options->conninfo, value, MAXLEN);
 		else if (strcmp(name, "data_directory") == 0)
+		{
 			strncpy(options->data_directory, value, MAXPGPATH);
+			canonicalize_path(options->data_directory);
+		}
 		else if (strcmp(name, "config_directory") == 0)
+		{
 			strncpy(options->config_directory, value, MAXPGPATH);
-
+			canonicalize_path(options->config_directory);
+		}
 		else if (strcmp(name, "replication_user") == 0)
 		{
 			if (strlen(value) < sizeof(options->replication_user))
diff --git a/doc/appendix-release-notes.xml b/doc/appendix-release-notes.xml
index 872842c0..cb08a81e 100644
--- a/doc/appendix-release-notes.xml
+++ b/doc/appendix-release-notes.xml
@@ -237,6 +237,16 @@
 			</para>
 		  </listitem>
 
+          <listitem>
+            <para>
+              &repmgr;: canonicalize the data directory path when parsing the configuration file, so
+              the provided path matches the path PostgreSQL reports as its data directory.
+              Otherwise, if e.g. the data directory is configured with a trailing slash,
+              <link linkend="repmgr-node-check"><command>repmgr node check --data-directory-config</command></link>
+              will return a spurious error.
+            </para>
+          </listitem>
+
 		  <listitem>
 			<para>
               &repmgrd;: fix memory leak which occurs while the monitored PostgreSQL node is <emphasis>not</emphasis>