diff --git a/app/Views/errors/html/error_exception.php b/app/Views/errors/html/error_exception.php
index 693afed491f5..4ddeac1a2ec4 100644
--- a/app/Views/errors/html/error_exception.php
+++ b/app/Views/errors/html/error_exception.php
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 
 	<!-- Source -->
 	<div class="container">
-		<p><b><?= esc(static::cleanPath($file, $line)) ?></b> at line <b><?= esc($line) ?></b></p>
+		<p><b><?= esc(clean_path($file)) ?></b> at line <b><?= esc($line) ?></b></p>
 
 		<?php if (is_file($file)) : ?>
 			<div class="source">
@@ -64,12 +64,12 @@
 							<?php if (isset($row['file']) && is_file($row['file'])) :?>
 								<?php
                                 if (isset($row['function']) && in_array($row['function'], ['include', 'include_once', 'require', 'require_once'], true)) {
-                                    echo esc($row['function'] . ' ' . static::cleanPath($row['file']));
+                                    echo esc($row['function'] . ' ' . clean_path($row['file']));
                                 } else {
-                                    echo esc(static::cleanPath($row['file']) . ' : ' . $row['line']);
+                                    echo esc(clean_path($row['file']) . ' : ' . $row['line']);
                                 }
                                 ?>
-							<?php else : ?>
+							<?php else: ?>
 								{PHP internal code}
 							<?php endif; ?>
 
@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@
 
 				<ol>
 				<?php foreach ($files as $file) :?>
-					<li><?= esc(static::cleanPath($file)) ?></li>
+					<li><?= esc(clean_path($file)) ?></li>
 				<?php endforeach ?>
 				</ol>
 			</div>
diff --git a/system/Debug/Exceptions.php b/system/Debug/Exceptions.php
index a65be7a2ad2f..0dbc7e293ae9 100644
--- a/system/Debug/Exceptions.php
+++ b/system/Debug/Exceptions.php
@@ -318,6 +318,8 @@ protected function determineCodes(Throwable $exception): array
 
     /**
      * This makes nicer looking paths for the error output.
+     *
+     * @deprecated Use dedicated `clean_path()` function.
      */
     public static function cleanPath(string $file): string
     {
diff --git a/system/Debug/Toolbar/Collectors/BaseCollector.php b/system/Debug/Toolbar/Collectors/BaseCollector.php
index 5d8d39ff169f..e8aaad9ba115 100644
--- a/system/Debug/Toolbar/Collectors/BaseCollector.php
+++ b/system/Debug/Toolbar/Collectors/BaseCollector.php
@@ -11,8 +11,6 @@
 
 namespace CodeIgniter\Debug\Toolbar\Collectors;
 
-use CodeIgniter\Debug\Exceptions;
-
 /**
  * Base Toolbar collector
  */
@@ -174,13 +172,13 @@ public function display()
     }
 
     /**
-     * Clean Path
-     *
      * This makes nicer looking paths for the error output.
+     *
+     * @deprecated Use the dedicated `clean_path()` function.
      */
     public function cleanPath(string $file): string
     {
-        return Exceptions::cleanPath($file);
+        return clean_path($file);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/system/Debug/Toolbar/Collectors/Files.php b/system/Debug/Toolbar/Collectors/Files.php
index d6aefd2c3fe9..ea14dcfd1ec3 100644
--- a/system/Debug/Toolbar/Collectors/Files.php
+++ b/system/Debug/Toolbar/Collectors/Files.php
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ public function display(): array
         $userFiles = [];
 
         foreach ($rawFiles as $file) {
-            $path = $this->cleanPath($file);
+            $path = clean_path($file);
 
             if (strpos($path, 'SYSTEMPATH') !== false) {
                 $coreFiles[] = [
diff --git a/tests/system/Debug/ExceptionsTest.php b/tests/system/Debug/ExceptionsTest.php
index 08d521ede2f4..247629933c69 100644
--- a/tests/system/Debug/ExceptionsTest.php
+++ b/tests/system/Debug/ExceptionsTest.php
@@ -61,36 +61,4 @@ public function testDetermineCodes(): void
         $this->assertSame([500, 1], $determineCodes(new RuntimeException('That.', 600)));
         $this->assertSame([404, 1], $determineCodes(new RuntimeException('There.', 404)));
     }
-
-    /**
-     * @dataProvider dirtyPathsProvider
-     */
-    public function testCleanPaths(string $file, string $expected): void
-    {
-        $this->assertSame($expected, Exceptions::cleanPath($file));
-    }
-
-    public function dirtyPathsProvider()
-    {
-        $ds = DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
-
-        yield from [
-            [
-                APPPATH . 'Config' . $ds . 'App.php',
-                'APPPATH' . $ds . 'Config' . $ds . 'App.php',
-            ],
-            [
-                SYSTEMPATH . 'CodeIgniter.php',
-                'SYSTEMPATH' . $ds . 'CodeIgniter.php',
-            ],
-            [
-                VENDORPATH . 'autoload.php',
-                'VENDORPATH' . $ds . 'autoload.php',
-            ],
-            [
-                FCPATH . 'index.php',
-                'FCPATH' . $ds . 'index.php',
-            ],
-        ];
-    }
 }
diff --git a/user_guide_src/source/changelogs/v4.2.0.rst b/user_guide_src/source/changelogs/v4.2.0.rst
index 3d2a2223350f..395408641e9f 100644
--- a/user_guide_src/source/changelogs/v4.2.0.rst
+++ b/user_guide_src/source/changelogs/v4.2.0.rst
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ Deprecations
 ************
 
 - ``CodeIgniter\Database\SQLSRV\Connection::getError()`` is deprecated. Use ``CodeIgniter\Database\SQLSRV\Connection::error()`` instead.
+- ``CodeIgniter\Debug\Exceptions::cleanPath()`` and ``CodeIgniter\Debug\Toolbar\Collectors\BaseCollector::cleanPath()`` are deprecated. Use the ``clean_path()`` function instead.
 
 Bugs Fixed
 **********